CHESTERVILLE — The forest service is still trying to determine the cause of a difficult brush fire on Chesterville Hill on Thursday, according to Chesterville fire Chief Edward Hastings IV.

The fire consumed an area about three-tenths of an acre on the sides of ledges and a cliff, he said, and was difficult to access.

The fire burned the dust and droppings from cedar and fir trees. It went down into the ground 5 inches to a foot in some places, he said. The only way to put it out was to dig down and get water to it.

A couple of people hiking on the side of the mountain reported the fire about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, Hastings said.

Members of Chesterville Fire Department and Farmington Fire and Rescue worked until dark. Firefighters returned about 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning and found the fire in the same condition, Hastings said.

“We thought we would get more rain overnight than what we had,” he said. “We determined the only method to fight it was to bring a hose three-quarters of a mile into the woods.”

The best access was from a cellphone tower road on Chesterville Hill. Tankers went as far as they could, and then ATVs and a skidder helped firefighters reach the fire, he said.

They had a hard time getting water to firefighters, he said.

The scene was smoldering hot but didn’t extend beyond where they left it Wednesday night, he said.

What they needed most was personnel. They started asking for mutual aid about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night. When they realized they needed to take a hose in about a mile Thursday morning, they sought even more help, he said.

Fire crews left the scene about 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

Mutual aid came from Strong, Temple, Farmington, Jay, Wilton, Industry, New Sharon, East Dixfield and some from the lakes region, which includes Vienna, Mt. Vernon, Fayette, Manchester and Readfield, Hastings said.

abryant@sunjournal.com