There was a house fire on Washington Island Tuesday morning. At about 8:30AM, the call came in from a home on Deer Lane Road, just south of Gunnlaugsson Road, stating that there was smoke in the house, possibly coming from the crawlspace and the owners evacuated the home. Washington Island Fire Chief Pete Nehlsen put out a call for mutual aid, and by 9:40AM help was on the scene from the fire departments of Sister Bay/Liberty Grove, Ephraim, Gibraltar, and Baileys Harbor. Fire Chief Nehlsen explains how the fire started and the strange way it spread through the home…
An alarm first alerted the homeowners of the problem. Getting access to the crawlspace was critical in extinguishing the fire, and Fire Chief Nehlsen reports that the owners were very helpful on the scene…
A water pump site was set up and they used approximately 3,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire. Fire Chief Nehlsen says the home can certainly be saved, but there was extensive smoke damage and electrical damage…
The entire response took approximately 4 hours, but Fire Chief Nehlsen stayed on the scene much later to make sure there was no delayed rekindling or hot-spots. The owners will now have to find alternative lodging until the home can be repaired.
