Area firefighters will tell you that grass fires can happen at any time of the year. A crew from the Sturgeon Bay Fire Department dealt with that fact Tuesday afternoon. At 3:57, a grass fire was reported in a field off of South Shiloh Road, in the Town of Sturgeon Bay. The page indicated that the fire, driven by gusty winds, was threatening a barn on the property. Four units and seven firefighters were sent to the site and they found a 100 by 75 foot section already burned and an active fire still moving. The crew used about 700 gallons of water to put out the blaze. While the shifting winds actually pushed the fire away from the barn, it was heading in the direction of a wooded swampy area when it was extinguished. Department members learned that embers from a burn barrel on the edge of the property probably ignited the dry grass. The barrel did not have a screen and the wind blew the embers some distance into the field. The Sturgeon Bay Fire Department cleared the scene at 4:37PM.
