DELAFIELD, Wis.— The combination of high winds, dry leaves and ground cover have caused a red flag warning for nearly half the state of Wisconsin on Wednesday.
Wildfire season starts in the spring and picks up again in the fall. This year, the season is starting off with a red flag warning across most of the state. This means that conditions are just right for rapidly spreading fires.
What You Need To Know
- Southern Wisconsin under a Red Flag Warning on Wednesday
- This type of warning, is keeping first responders on their toes, ready to respond
- A heightened response like this, can be difficult as many departments across the state are dealing with staffing shortages
“This is a bit of a perfect storm that happens almost every year, but right now in this spring it’s a little bit worst than normal,” Lake Country Fire Rescue, Assistant Chief, Matthew Haerter said.
Haerter said things are worse to start the season this year because of how dry the ground is, the low dew points and high winds all happening at once. He said this is the ideal recipe for fast spreading fires.
“Often times it is underestimated how fast fire spreads.” Haerter said. “On a day like this, if we start a little fire with a match, we would have fire within these woods in minutes. You can’t get ahead of that."
Warning days, like the one on Wednesday, is the reason why first responders train and prepare. Lake Country Fire Rescue trains often and breaks out their gear to make sure it’s ready to go, in the event of a fire.
A heightened response like this, can be difficult as many departments across the state are dealing with staffing shortages. Haerter said it’s important for people to think before they act.
“Wildfires are very dangerous for our firefighters as well.” Haerter said. “They are heavily exhausting, they are wearing heavy gear, you’re going a far distance into an area that is very unpredictable and dangerous. The last thing we want to do is injure one of our people simply because someone was careless."
First responders are using this first Red Flag Warning day as a call for action. They said they hope Wisconsinites see the warnings and do their part to prevent fires from starting in these dangerous conditions.