Wisconsin is on track to see its worst fire season in more than five years, officials say, after hundreds of unseasonal blazes prompted the governor to declare a state of emergency.
In just the first four months of the year, Wisconsin has lost nearly as much acreage to wildfires as it did in all of 2020. Since January, 365 wildfires have flared across the midwestern state, burning more than 1,500 acres, and 162 of those fires have ignited since the start of April alone.
While no fatalities have been reported from this year’s fires, 26 structures have been lost, according to the state’s department of natural resources (DNR), and officials say it is unusual to have seen so many fires sparked this early in the spring.
Below-average precipitation, coupled with snowpack that melted early, meant fire season arrived about two weeks earlier than usual, said Marc Sass, cooperative area forest ranger with the state’s DNR.