VIDEO: Potentially dangerous fire conditions continue around the state this week. Waupaca County is one of the counties in Northeast Wisconsin where the outdoor fire risk is considered very high.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources reported in the past week it had to put out 72 wildfires across the state, including one in Waupaca County where our news team could see a significant amount of tall, dry brush and crunchy grass.
The total so far this year is 272 after two-and-a-half months, according to the DNR fire management dashboard. A large portion of our state is under a “high” or “very high” fire danger. Much of the state has been drought-stricken since last year.
The DNR wants you to avoid all outdoor burning, because on windy, dry days it’s easy for embers to escape a burn pile or firepit and get out of control.
WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay
|
VIDEO/PHOTOS: A 19-year-old Wisconsin woman is at home recovering after she suffered severe burns from a bonfire someone had tossed accelerant into on a night in February.
Ryen Reif said she was attending her friend’s birthday party on February 12.
The group had gathered around a bonfire that evening when Reif said a friend tossed lacquer thinner, an extremely volatile and flammable liquid, onto the fire. Suddenly, Reif said her pants caught fire.
“They were sitting right next to me, and they poured it right on there, and it must have splashed onto my pants or something, and all I saw was an explosion,” Reif said. “I was on the ground in flames and I was like, ‘You need to get my pants off!’ and I was patting my legs trying to get them off, and my fingers got burned and everything, and obviously my legs got burnt.”
WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay
|
Friday, at 10:32 p.m., Marshfield Fire and Rescue responded with 9 personnel to a report of an oven fire with heavy smoke filling the apartment at Laurel Gardens Apartments.
Residents of the apartment complex were found outside when personnel arrived.
According to a Marshfield Police Officer, a fire extinguisher was used on the stone.
Interior attack crew found heavy smoke conditions on the first-floor hallway and in the apartment. No active fire was found, according to Marshfield Fire and Rescue.
Ventilation efforts were used to remove smoke and toxic gasses from the apartment. Residents were then allowed back into the apartment once everything was cleared.
The cause of the fire was improperly stored plasticware in the broiler drawer, which overheated, according to Marshfield Fire and Rescue.
WEAU-TV NBC 13 Eau Claire
|