OCONTO FALLS, Wis. — Rain over parts of northeast Wisconsin Sunday was welcome news to Peshtigo area forestry leader Richard Lietz and other staff with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
“However, because the ground is so dry, it dries back out very quickly with any type of wind and sun,” Lietz said Monday. “We’ll be right back into fire conditions very shortly.”
Much of the area Lietz and rangers in Oconto Falls cover for fire response were under a high threat of wildfires going into the weekend.
Sunday’s rain helped drop the risk level in Oconto County and other parts of the state to moderate, but it’s still really dry.
On Monday, the DNR reinstated burning permits through a special fire order in 13 counties, including Oconto County.
“Counties that don’t usually have permits during this time of the year, we’ll be reinstating burn permits,” Lietz said. “Please check the website daily before you wish to burn to check what the requirements will be for that day and if burning will be allowed or not allowed.”
It’s not just rural areas facing the elevated risk of fires.
Oconto Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief Ryan Pecha said even if the ground is wet vegetation may be primed to burn.
“This time of year you don’t think of fire dangers, it’s more of a summer and spring kind of thing, but just with the dry vegetation and high winds, it keeps everything dry and there’s not much moisture in the ground,” he said. “It was a bad time of the year for fires.”
The City of Oconto requires burning permits.
A HUMVEE is one of the vehicles the department uses for grass and brush fires.
“In the winter months and some of the hunting seasons, we’ll outfit it with some rescue equipment and for off-road if we have to get into the fields and the woods and the marshes,” Pecha said. “Right now, it’s set up for grass fires.”
Lietz said the risk for fires really doesn’t end until there’s pouring rain or a blanket of snow.
“The biggest factor we’re facing now is if we do get a fire, it’s really hard to put them out,” he said. “Because everything is so dry, the fire peats into the soil, burns the root structure and requires extensive mop up and cleanup to be able to put these fires out.”
Fire conditions around Wisconsin can be found here.