WEST WINDSOR - Firefighters from more than a dozen fire companies in three counties converged on South Lane yesterday to battle a large, stubborn and hard-to-reach brush fire that burned for hours.

The blaze, discovered between 2 and 2:30 p.m., was located in a densely wooded area off South Lane, between Village Road East and Windsor Road near the border between West Windsor and Washington townships.

The multiple-alarm blaze burned for about seven hours and forced firefighters and police to temporarily shut down several nearby roads and redirect traffic.

The township's two fire companies, West Windsor and Princeton Junction, fought the blaze with help from numerous fire companies that responded from throughout Mercer, Middlesex and Monmouth counties.

Large water-carrying tanker-trucks and other vehicles designed for off-road firefighting responded to help extinguish the flames from Hightstown, East Windsor, Washington Township, Hamilton, Lawrence, Pennington, Cranbury, Plainsboro, Monroe, Allentown, Millstone and Manalapan.

Officials said the fire was finally doused by 9:30 p.m., but firefighters were still on the scene at that time picking up their hoses and other equipment.

No other details were immediately available.