A wildfire likely sparked by a lightning strike spread in Ulster County on Monday, and more than 100 firefighters, forest rangers and volunteers were working to battle the blaze. 

Officials said the fire was feeding off the area's extremely dry conditions and could take days to extinguish.

First responders found a difficult situation on the ground battling the raging fire in Minnewaska State Park Preserve. Hot, dry conditions on the ground and winds were causing it to spread. Smoke billowed up over the mountains as New York State Police helicopters fought the flames from the Naponach fire from above.

About 30 acres had burned already, and officials said the fire was spreading.

“It is still burning, as residents can see, in the Ellenville area," state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said. "It’s picked up a little bit this afternoon. It is very hot, very dry.”

The fire was likely started by a lightning strike on Saturday, officials said. Over 100 local firefighters, forest rangers and other first responders worked around the clock in dangerous conditions to contain the fire.

“I can hear the helicopters with the buckets going over by the house,” Ellenville resident Maggie Conlon said.

Conlon was keeping a close eye on the smoke as she ran errands.

“I went in about an hour and a half ago and it looked like it was more contained. Now, it seems to have come over the mountain, like it's coming this way, and it wasn’t like that before,” she said.

Seggos said the team was working hard to contain the fire.

“Right now, we have about 100 personnel up in the hills, creating a fire line using dozers as well as hand tools at the same time, dropping buckets using two state police helicopters with water drawn from a nearby lake,” he said.

Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan was briefed on the scene by County Director of Emergency Services Everett Erichsen and other officials, who told him they expect the fire to spread. He said it could reach up to 100 acres or more and take days to put out.

He said over the next 24 hours, the response team will add 60 firefighters to the operation, and double resources to four helicopters and 24 all-terrain vehicles.

All access points to the park preserve will be closed Tuesday until further notice. Those with reservations for the Labor Day weekend will be notified.

“This is about the driest it’s been in the last couple of decades in the Catskills area, lower Catskills area," Seggos said. "There’s a high fire danger risk in this area right now, so anyone who is thinking about building a camp fire, doing any backyard burning, smoking a cigarette, butt tossing it in the woods, please be careful because this vegetation can ignite almost immediately.”

Much of the region has been affected by drought over the last few weeks. Ryan said most towns in Ulster County have a ban on open fires.

The DEC said until the area gets a significant amount of rain, the risk of more wildfires remains high.

“We need about three inches to catch up to where we should be this time of year. Until we get that rain, were gonna remain in this high fire danger category,” Seggos said.

The DEC also had to battle a wildfire in Sullivan County that grew to 50 acres over the weekend --that was likely caused by burning debris. They say that fire has been contained.​