June 9, 2022 at 11:52 a.m.
Wildfire burns almost 10 acres in Little Rice
Mathein: 'It's almost reminiscent of out west'
Wildfire burns almost 10 acres in Little Rice
That determination was made by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which investigated the fire.
Little Rice fire chief Larry Mathein, who told The Lakeland Times he wasn't able to be at the scene until later that afternoon, said the fire ended up covering nearly 10 acres.
"It initially was called in as approximately a half acre in size," he said. "I believe the initial engine company that got there, they started attacking the fire. I think the biggest problem for all of them was the properties are all in a pine forest and they (firefighters) were unable to see beyond 50 feet or whatever it was into the woods and it was difficult to determine where everything went."
Mathein said most, if not all, local volunteer fire departments are short-handed and that played into what eventually transpired, which included a call into the dispatch center at the Oneida County Sheriff's Office to activate the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, or MABAS.
That was done by Nokomis fire chief Don Richert who, in Mathein's absence, was the incident commander and made the call after assessing the situation.
With Little Rice and Nokomis personnel and equipment already at the scene, the MABAS call included requests for firefighters and equipment from Minocqua, Woodruff, Lake Tomahawk, Hazelhurst, Pelican, Stella, Cassian, Prentice, Sugar Camp, Willow, St. Germain, Arbor Vitae, Newbold, Pine Lake, Crescent, Three Lakes and the DNR.
The equipment DNR firefighters brought to the seen included seven tracked vehicles, one of them a heavy bulldozer.
A DNR spotter aircraft was also used to help observe the situation from the air.
"With the weather conditions, the wind was picking up and it (the fire) took off," Mathein said. "The DNR brought in their heavy equipment and they did their best to try to contain it. It was a difficult area to access. They had to bulldoze roads or breaks in."
"There was complete destruction of a good portion of that pine area there," he said, referring to the location of the fire.
"Even going down Little Rice Dam Road, you can see where all the trees are burned away," Mathein said. "All the needles are gone. There's just sticks sticking up." "It's almost reminiscent of out west," he added, referring to the aftermath of wildfires over the past couple of years in the western United States.
"I used a MABAS card because the incident, as it was called in at first, was very controllable," Richert said. "When the wind picked up, the whole thing started to jump the fire line ... wind was a major factor."
He said there were no structures lost as a result of the fire.
As for the MABAS, Richert said the system worked like it's supposed to.
"Absolutely it did," he said. "It got us all the different departments. The manpower and the resources we needed to control that fire."
Richert said the dry conditions, along with the wind, don't help.
"You know, people think it's OK right now because it's all green outside," he said. "We haven't had the moisture to get down to the ground. Even if it's green, it's dry out there."
Joe Schwantes, the DNR's Woodruff area forestry leader, said the fire was the largest DNR firefighters have been called to so far this year.
The DNR Forestry Division's Woodruff area includes, Vilas, Oneida, Lincoln, Marathon and Taylor counties.
"This was the heaviest response for a fire this spring in our area," Schwantes said. "The forecast didn't match reality. It ended up being drier than expected over the weekend."
He said there "will likely be" a citation issued in connection with the fire on Kelch Road. He said the agency's recommendation is for people to burn only with a valid DNR permit "and within the guidelines of that permit."
"Typically, it'll restrict burning to the evening hours when the wind has generally died down, humidity is higher and there's less chance of a fire escaping and spreading," Schwantes said. "Even more important than that for any kind of fire, whether it's a campfire or grilling, always be in attendance at your fire until you know it is out and cold."
Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].
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