Friday morning began a very large warehouse fire in Combined Locks involving the burning of numerous bales of paper pulp. Occupants of that business evacuated so nobody was left inside. Due to the size of the building, its contents, and fuel load, the fire continued extensively and the decision was made to utilize the “MABAS” (mutual aid box alarm system). This brought a very large amount of preplanned resources to the scene quickly. The resopnse to this fire became a multi-day event and approximately 67 fire departments responded to aid in one way or another. Part of this response included the Door County MABAS Strike Team which consisted of 5 engines with 4 firefighters per engine from the departments of Southern Door, Brussels-Union-Gardner, Sturgeon Bay, Egg Harbor, and Sister Bay. Two fire chiefs were also sent, Sister Bay Fire Chief Chris Hecht and Gibraltar Fire Chief Andy Bertges, as well as one fire chief’s aide. Fire Chief Chris Hecht explains how this is the first time a MABAS Strike Team was requested from Door County………
That fire began shortly before 10:30 am Friday. The “MABAS” call for the Door County Strike Team went out at 7:00 pm. They arrived in Combined Locks by 9:00 pm and assisted with the response until approximately 7:30 Saturday morning when they cleared the scene. Fire Chief Hecht said it was a devastating fire, but the first call for the county’s MABAS Strike Team went well……….
During the entire response to this enormous warehouse fire, there were no injuries to any civilians or firefighters.
