Swirling winds, a hillside of thick, dead grass, and a possible spark from a broken electrical breaker were a hazardous combination that all contributed to a large grassfire on the west side of Route 110 just north of Chelsea village Monday afternoon, April 23.

Forty-five volunteer firefighters from Chelsea, Tunbridge, Vershire, Washington, and Williamstown responded to the blaze, which was reported by Kevin and Laurie Braman just after 12:30 p.m.

The fire, which originated close to Route 110 just before to the Braman Farm and made its way up the extremely steep hillside into a wooded area, never threatened any residential property, according to Fire Warden John Upham.

It is suspected that the fire was triggered by a spark from a blown transformer on the power pole next to the road.

"A large pine tree came down up in the woods and brought our lines to the ground," reported Dan Weston of Washington Electric Cooperative. It is believed this caused a chain reaction down the power line to the pole, where a breaker tripped the transformer and quite probably sent sparks into the grass. Upham noted that there was no fire where the lines were actually down.

Upham expects a representative from Vermont Forest and Parks to visit the property soon to get a GPS reading on the exact footprint of the burn. He estimated that 8-10 acres had been damaged, noting that in this case, the fire may have actually improved the condition of the land by fostering new growth.

"We've all heard of urban renewal, well, this is an example of wildland renewal," he said.

Noting that the fire departments took a defensive approach to fighting the blaze, Upham pointed out that the fire was very difficult to access because of the severe pitch of the bank.

"First we tried to determine where the fire was heading, which was obviously up," he said.

There was little threat of the fire jumping Route 110, so the crews concentrated on establishing the right and left flanks. Upham sent crews up Bobbinshop Road to get at the fire from the Button and Nelson properties at the top of the hill. Fast-moving grass fires can travel as quickly as 40 miles per hour, so the first minutes in determining the most probable path of the fire were crucial.

"It was interesting because wind usually can drive a fire and make things worse very quickly," Upham reported, "but the winds were swirling so it was sometimes actually working in our favor."

Snow in some of the cooler, covered pockets in the woods also slowed the fire, so the crews were able to keep the fire within one isolated patch.

Traffic on Route 110 was limited to one lane for quite some time, as crews were on the scene for over five hours. Fire and rescue personnel were called to a vehicle fire in South Washington shortly after wrapping up the grass fire scene. Two ambulance calls earlier in the day also contributed to a busy day for area personnel.