There was a fire call in the Town of Gardner Wednesday afternoon. Just after 1:30pm, a call came in from a property owner who said his controlled brush fire had grown beyond his fire-pit area and was beyond control. Brussels-Union-Gardner Fire Chief Curt Vandertie reports that the first firefighter on scene confirmed the grass fire and said it was now moving through a wooded area. His department then requested assistance from the Southern Door Fire Department who sent 2 brush trucks with a UTV to back up the 4 units, 8 firefighters, and 1 UTV from the BUG department. Fire Chief Vandertie explains what happened…
The 2 UTVs Increased their mobility in the response as they used roughly 1,400 gallons of water to extinguish the fire…
Fire Chief Vandertie says there were a few factors which helped in their response, and he added the importance of calling 911 in these situations sooner rather than later…
As he said, there were no injuries. The area burned was approximately 2 acres, and the entire response was completed in just under 2 hours.
Then, in northern Door County, an evening call came in for a grass fire just east of Sister Bay Wednesday evening. Shortly after 8:30PM, the Sister Bay Liberty Grove Fire Department was called to the location, about half-way down the dead-end portion of Scandia Road, east of Old Stage Road, where a glowing grass fire was burning along the ditch. Assistant Fire Chief Mike Goldstone reports that it was a slow-moving fire, thanks to the lack of wind at that time. His department responded with 2 brush trucks and 1 engine as backup, along with 8 firefighters. They were able to extinguish the fire in about 30 minutes using just under 500 gallons of water. Assistant Fire Chief Goldstone remarked that there was no sign of the cause of the fire. He suspects it could’ve possible been a carelessly discarded cigarette or maybe sparks from a dragging muffler, but there was really no sign of the fire’s origin.
