As days begin to last longer and the snow melts away, spring can be felt all across Wisconsin. But spring isn’t just the season of new life in the state, it is also wildfire season. This year, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says the conditions for wildfires are unusually high and have already led to three times the expected number of reported fires.
Catherine Koele works in forest fire protection for the state DNR. She says while fires are more common in rural areas, a recent fire just outside of Milwaukee proved fires can start anywhere there isn’t concrete.
“It’s not very common you see a lot of fires outside of Milwaukee and that was a low-land but kind of grassy area and a spark along with the conditions that we had allowed a fire to get a good run and threaten some structures,” she says.
Koele says the increase in fires is partially due to the early loss in snow cover in all parts of the state.