While it might be hard to imagine with all the snow on the ground, Wisconsin’s busiest time of year for wildfires is growing close.
Two thirds of Wisconsin’s wildfires happen in the spring after the snow melts and before things start greening up.
In 2021, there were more than 1,000 reported fires that burned roughly 2,500 acres.
Jolene Ackerman is the Wisconsin DNR Division of Forestry’s Wildland Urban Interface program coordinator. She says just because Wisconsin wildfires don’t make the headlines like western wildfires do, doesn’t mean they aren’t destructive.
“We have hundreds of homes that are threatened by fires every year and there’s dozens of buildings that burn down. In addition, people do die in Wisconsin trying to put out the fire, things get out of hand,” said Ackerman.
Prevention measures are the best way to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires.