WEST FAIRLEE — Town Fire Warden Will Ordway was driving home Monday afternoon when he noticed smoke and fire in the woods on Beanville Road near the border between West Fairlee and Vershire.

When Ordway saw the brush fire and called in for a response at about 3:30 p.m., he said it had extended up a hill and into the woods “a long way.” There was no way to tell how long the fire had been burning unattended.

“You could not see the whole fire from the roadway,” Ordway said Tuesday.

By the time it was under control and the 10 fire departments who responded were clearing the scene around 7 p.m., the fire had burned 5.6 acres, though there was no damage to structures or any injuries.

Ordway said he does not know who the property owner is and that nobody was present at the time of the fire. The cause of the fire also is still unknown.

The fire had likely grown so large because it burned unattended for an unknown amount of time, Deputy Fire Chief John Jeinnings, who was in command on the scene said Tuesday. While the ground was dry despite weekend rains, Jeinnings said the department was “very lucky” because there was very little wind at the time to carry the fire on.

A fire of this size burns about once a year in West Fairlee, Ordway said. While there is a “possibility” that the fire had a suspicious cause, “we can’t rule anything out at this moment.”

A simultaneous smaller brush fire in Bradford limited the departments available to respond to West Fairlee, Ordway said. The Bradford and Piermont fire departments were busy controlling a smaller brush fire off of Upper Plain Road in Bradford.

The Bradford fire was called in just before 4 p.m. when a backyard burn barrel got out of control and burned about a quarter acre, Fire Chief Ryan Terrill said Monday. There were no injuries or property damage and firefighters returned to the station at 5 p.m.

On Tuesday, fire danger was high in most of Vermont’s Upper Valley towns and moderate in Royalton, Bethel, Barnard and Bridgewater, according to the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation. In many towns, including West Fairlee, burn permits are not being issued. In New Hampshire, most of the Upper Valley was in a low fire danger zone Tuesday, with Claremont, Newport, Unity and Charlestown rated moderate, according to the state Division of Forests and Lands. The Vermont Department reports daily fire danger online at fpr.vermont.gov/forest/wildland-fire/monitoring-fire-danger. In New Hampshire fire information is posted at www.nhdfl.dncr.nh.gov/forest-protection/daily-fire-danger.

Clare Shanahan can be reached at cshanahan@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.