The Sturgeon Bay Fire Department responded to 2 different fire calls Saturday evening. First, at 6:00 pm they were paged for a trailer on fire with flames and smoke showing at 1309 W. Walnut Place on Sturgeon Bay’s west side. They arrived on the scene with 5 units to notice 6 to 8 different burning areas which appeared to be grass fires. It seems the occupant was starting his grill when some lit charcoal escaped the grill. This is the point where this fire situation becomes bizarre. Assistant Fire Chief Kalin Montevideo reports there was about 1 inch of puffy cottonwood on the ground and plenty of it freshly airborne from a nearby tree. The fire appeared to be spreading through the puffy cottonwood on the ground, and possibly even through the airborne white puffs as well. Assistant Chief Montevideo says in her 20+ years of fighting fires she has never seen anything like it. Different grass fires ignited on different areas on the ground, each presumably ignited through the puffy cottonwood. One trailer had significant burn damage underneath with burning insulation, wiring, and a water line, as well as extensive smoke inside the trailer. Through the cottonwood, another fire was burning beneath the wooden steps of a nearby trailer as well. They used just under 500 gallons of water to extinguish the fire in about one hour. Montevideo says she remained on-site for another 90 minutes to secure the occupants safety and monitor the situation. There were no injuries. Before she was able to leave that scene, at about 7:45 pm, another fire call came in for a brush fire on Whitefish Bay Road in the Town of Sevastopol. It was reported as a large brush fire approximately 400 yards off the roadway, not near any structures. One engine and 2 water-carrying tenders responded to the scene. They used about 5,000 gallons of water and 2 gallons of foam to fully extinguish the fire and cleared the scene in just over an hour and a half. It seems the fire started when the land-owner was using a type of smoke bomb to smoke coyotes out of their den and the dry grass near the den ignited in the process. Again, there were no injuries.
