A nearly picture-perfect Saturday turned chaotic in a heartbeat for emergency personnel as they battled a massive wildfire throughout more than 400 acres of the Blue Mountain in Carbon and Lehigh counties.

More than 200 firefighters were called to the scene shortly after the fire broke out near West Sunset Road in East Penn Township. Crews worked well into Saturday evening and continued Sunday morning using ground units, air tankers and helicopters to fight the blaze from all angles.By Sunday morning, a staging area had been set up just off the intersection of Mountain Road and Brown Street, north of Slatedale.Mike Kern, fire operations chief for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry, said he hoped the fire would be under control by 4 p.m., although winds were helping to continue to spread the flames.Less than two hours after those comments, multiple crews from Carbon and surrounding counties were summoned back around 2 p.m. to Blue Mountain Road and the East Penn Sporting Club in East Penn Township as flames began to rage again.Counting on the rainBy 3 p.m., vehicles lined Route 895 with cameras and cellphones dangling from driver and passenger-side windows as a helicopter and plane hovered overhead.While the water from those units was helpful, officials continued to hope for Mother Nature to lend a hand."We're counting on some rain at some point today," Kern said on Sunday. "That will help us out tremendously. Everyone is doing the best they can."Rain was in the forecast, but not until early Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service.At 5 p.m., officials reported the fire was headed in the direction of Route 895, which was closed at its intersection with Dinkey Road.News of the fire spread quickly on social media."The fact that the fire planes were flying over my house today and the smell of smoke in the air is not comforting in the slightest," tweeted Emily Snyder of Lehighton."This is the most dangerous thing that happened in my 16 years of living in East Penn."Covered in sootEarlier Sunday, Erica Heery volunteered her time helping firefighters get much-needed nourishment at the East Penn Volunteer Fire Company."There was lots of food and drink being donated, but no one to organize things," she said. "The food was being piled up on the floor of the garage, so we asked to open the hall and took over the kitchen. Men and women covered in soot started coming in looking tired and hungry. We made boxes filled with sandwiches and snacks for them to throw on the trucks to take back up to the others."While the fire didn't damage any residences or buildings on Saturday, a voluntary evacuation was offered to residents from Translator Lane to Jones Road in Slatington, and Jones Road in Heidelberg Township.The American Red Cross set up a reception center at the Citizens Fire Company in Slatedale. The reception center opened at 9 p.m. on Saturday and closed around 8 a.m. on Sunday."We only ended up with about six people throughout the evening, but it was an opportunity for them to get out of the elements and get some food and water," said Anthony C. Tornetta, Red Cross communications director. "It's not that their homes were in danger, it was just offered as a safety precaution."In our backyardsKern said over 100 firefighters were back Sunday morning after many had been sent home to get rest.Rising smoke attracted several onlookers Sunday along Route 248 near Bowmanstown."I just can't believe it's still going," said Linda Painter, who was viewing around noon from the parking lot of the Mario 248 Stop gas station."God bless everyone up there fighting it. You see it on the news all the time out west, you just never think something of this level will happen in your backyard."Teenagers riding all terrain vehicles spotted the fire off West Sunset Road in East Penn Township, at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The flames spread fast, reaching heights of almost 40 feet at a few minutes after 3 p.m.While no homes were damaged, crews were concerned about structures on West Sunset Road.The cause of the fire, according to Kern, remains under investigation. No injuries had been reported as of Sunday.The area was under a red flag warning Saturday from the National Weather Service, meaning there was an extremely high risk of brush fires due to high winds and dry conditions.Suzanne Poli was back at a friend's house along Mountain Road in Slatington on Sunday to keep an eye on the situation. She was also there late Saturday afternoon as the flames intensified on the mountain."It's scary because you wonder how they're ever going to stop it," she said."Thankfully there are no casualties, but there was a time Saturday when you wondered if it wasn't going to take out some homes."