It was a stubborn fire that for the first few hours burned in many places, and it was being investigated as suspicious.

The Canadian team, Safety Boss, used dry chemicals on stubborn fires, said Brian McCutcheon, a spokesman for the company in Calgary.

Small, stubborn fires continued to burn, fueled by residual gasoline and oil in tangled lines and equipment.

Mr. Mulligan said it was "a very stubborn fire" that sent flames 1,000 feet into the air and was visible in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn.

A soggy cloud of hopelessness enveloped her, almost dampening the stubborn fire that was keeping her going.

Smoky, stubborn fire.

High winds, tinder-dry underbrush and drought produced the stubborn fires that took weeks to contain.

They also used blasts to extinguish stubborn fires in gas wells, and to generate powerful shock waves that helped geologists learn more about the earth's crust and mantle.

Elsewhere, whole battalions now engaged the more stubborn fires instead of invaders.

Firefighters were trying yesterday to contain a stubborn fire that burned an estimated 800 acres of Ocean County woodlands, officials said.