The La Crosse Fire Department has responded to 13 fires just in 2019 alone. "It's been abnormally busy for the last two months," said Assistant Chief Jeff Murphy. Despite recent record-setting snowfalls, officials say most of the fires have not been related to the cold weather. "Most of the calls, most of these fires have been related to careless smoking, electrical, various other causes," said Murphy. But the freezing temperatures add to the challenge when responding to fires as often as the department has done the last seven weeks. "It is more costly to the fire department budget and when we have the real cold weather it also causes damage to equipment as well," says Murphy. "So probably the biggest impact is the additional cost."