The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is reminding residents that fire danger remains high across the state. On Saturday, there were 36 fires burning over 100 acres. Five structures were burned and several more were threatened. Fire danger is expected to remain high to very high across the state.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2021 1:02:35 PM - SOURCE: Peshtigo Times

Fire destroyed a detached garage and a vehicle inside it in the 12100 block of 222nd Avenue southwest of Lake Shangri-La Tuesday night. A resident who lives behind the structure called 911 at about 7 p.m. after hearing a bang and noticing light smoke coming from the eves, according to Salem Lakes Fire Chief Mike Slover.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2021 1:03:37 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News - Metered Site

Dry conditions continue to play a role in grass fires around the area. Crews spent Tuesday at a fire south of Eau Claire, just off Priory Road. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has Eau Claire County and La Crosse County listed at a “high level” for wildfires. The DNR reports around 100 wildfires have broken out across the state during the past two weeks, burning more than 183 acres.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WLAX-TV Fox 25 La Crosse

Portage firefighters put out a fire in a motel room Monday evening before it was able to spread to any of the adjacent rooms. First responders were dispatched to the Sunset Motel at 2617 New Pinery Rd. shortly before 6:30 p.m. for a report of a fire in one of the rooms. When they arrived, crews found smoke coming from room 4.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2021 7:39:17 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV CBS 3 Madison

Efforts remain ongoing to recruit more people of color to the Beloit police and fire departments, as both chiefs gave an update to the Police and Fire Commission on Monday. Commissioner Dennis Murphy requested an update from both departments on their recruiting efforts to make both departments representative of Beloit’s diversity.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2021 8:28:36 PM - SOURCE: Beloit Daily News

Kaukauna firefighters now have a new life-saving device at their disposal. It’s called the LUCAS CPR device and it will help provide higher quality CPR. The department now has two thanks to three area organizations. The device can be the difference during a life or death situation if someone is under cardiac arrest.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2021 7:08:44 PM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

With the exception of four north central counties in the moderate category, the Wisconsin DNR lists fire danger across the entire state as high. Conditions are ripe for wildfires. Dry, dead brush, low humidity, with very little rain and high winds, are exactly the conditions that increase the risk of wildfire danger across our area each spring.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2021 5:37:23 PM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

An open door helped fan the flames of a large house fire that destroyed a Reedsburg home. According to the fire department, firefighters responded to the home, along Dessa Rain Drive, around midnight to try to contain the blaze. As they arrived, crews could see flames shooting through the roof. Reedsburg Asst.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2021 11:43:59 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

The Stevens Point Fire Department is now using augmented reality to show the importance of fire safety in a way previously not possible. Augmented reality is an interactive experience where real-world environments are enhanced by computer-generated content. The new augmented reality fire extinguisher training allows users to see what it would be like to extinguish a fire without the presence of actual flames.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2021 11:31:11 AM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

The Waupun Fire Department responded early Monday morning to a barn fire at N10533 Highway 151. Crews were called out at 1:31 a.m. Monday morning after a passerby noticed a building was on fire. Upon arrival, crews encountered two buildings that were fully engulfed and a third building that was in immediate danger.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2021 5:41:26 AM - SOURCE: KFIZ-AM Fond du Lac

Crews battled a house fire in Appleton overnight. At about 12:30 a.m., firefighters were called to a home at the corner of N. Woodridge and Wayfarer. Crews arrived to find smoke and flames coming from an attached garage. Flames spread to the home. The occupants of the home escaped without harm. It took about 20 minutes to get the fire under control.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2021 5:23:53 AM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

The brush fire is now contained in western Oneida County. The Wisconsin DNR says it has stopped growing at about three acres. The fire did get close to some buidlings and burned through debris, including tires which generated a lot of smoke. Crews are still on scene Sunday afternoon mopping up some hotspots.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2021 4:00:50 PM - SOURCE: WXPR-FM 91.7 Public Radio

Town of Geneva officials hope two times is the charm for passing a referendum that would help fund fire service in the community. The Town of Geneva has decided to place a public safety referendum question on the ballot again during the April 6 spring election. If approved, the referendum would allow the town to increase its property tax levy to help provide additional full-time firefighters and emergency medical service workers to the Elkhorn Fire Department, which provides fire and emergency medical service to the Town of Geneva.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2021 11:30:31 AM - SOURCE: Lake Geneva News

The scene was quite different Saturday afternoon, as crews cleaned and boarded up the home that was engulfed in flames early in Saturday morning, which ultimately led to the death of a 25-year-old man. "I went over there to look and flames were shooting out the side of the house," said David Colon. David Colon is still trying to wrap his head around exactly what happened Saturday morning after he arrived at his sister's home to do some construction, only to find that a house was going up in flames just a few doors down.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2021 9:09:40 AM - SOURCE: WGBA-TV NBC 26 Green Bay

Firefighters report having found one victim following a fire in Marinette County. According to the Marinette Police Department, police were dispatched to assist with a building fire located on the 1200 block Main Street. Upon arrival, officials say the building was engulfed in flames and had been evacuated.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2021 11:25:08 AM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV and WJMN-TV Green Bay

VIDEO: Fire ripped through a storage unit building on Green Bay’s west side early Friday morning, causing an estimated $150,000 in damages. At 1:48 a.m., the Green Bay Metro Fire Department was called to Lok-Safe Storage Building D, 1610 Stiles Road. “The fire had progressed into the entire building consuming 34 storage units in building D,” reads a statement from the Green Bay Metro Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 3/19/2021 7:57:43 AM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

Six truckloads full of mattresses and firefighting gear from several Northeast Wisconsin fire departments will soon be en route to another country. It’s part of a unique partnership, started several years ago, that allows firefighters here to donate older, used gear and even fire trucks, to South America.
- PUB DATE: 3/19/2021 6:37:57 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

PHOTO: Strong winds spread flames to a neighboring home after fire broke out in a garage at 509 Gould St. in Beaver Dam Thursday at 12:40 p.m. According to a press release from the Beaver Dam Fire Department, while enroute the fire department was notified there was smoke and fire in the garage area where a car was parked, but all occupants were out of the house.
- PUB DATE: 3/18/2021 4:53:57 PM - SOURCE: Wisc News

The Milwaukee Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) released this week new photographs and videos -- seeking the public’s help identifying persons of interest who could advance the arson investigations of several Kenosha businesses and vehicles that were set ablaze between Sunday, August 23 and Tuesday, August 25, 2020.
- PUB DATE: 3/18/2021 2:39:45 PM - SOURCE: WITI-TV Fox 6 Milwaukee

If there was one takeaway from a months-long study into the staffing operations — or more accurately, staffing shortfalls — at Ozaukee County’s nine fire departments, it is the remarkableness with which the units have been able to operate so successfully given their limitations. That was the observation of Rob Henken, president of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, which was hired to conduct a study of Ozaukee County’s increasing calls for EMS and fire service, decreasing number of volunteers, staff recruitment and service response times that lag behind comparable areas.
- PUB DATE: 3/18/2021 5:55:55 AM - SOURCE: Greater Milwaukee Today - GM Today