5-20-13 wisconsin wildfire

Department of Natural Resources law enforcement officials have identified the owner of the land where the Germann Road Fire originated as well as the logging operation responsible for unintentionally igniting the fire.  On Tuesday, May 14, at approximately 2:30 p.m., a nearly 8,000 acre wildfire devastated the Townships of Gordon and Highland in Douglas County. Forty-seven structures were lost; 17 of those were homes. The fire was declared 100 percent contained as of 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 15. The fire burned a swath more than 9 miles long and a mile and a half wide.

DNR law enforcement officials have confirmed that the fire was caused by equipment associated with logging operations. A logging crew, running a Timberjack 840 feller/buncher, was harvesting timber on industrial timber lands owned by Lyme St. Croix Forest Company LLC, these lands are managed by Steigerwaldt Land Services, Inc.  An operator from Ray Duerr Logging, LLC was conducting routine timber harvesting operations and noticed smoke coming from below the cutting head of the machine. According to the fire investigation, “the fire started underneath the head of the cutting device.” says Gary Bibow, Fire Law Enforcement Specialist. “We were able to rule out all the other possible fire causes based on the evidence we found. And, there was no indication of the saw coming in contact with a rock or that the equipment appeared to be faulty.”   The area surrounding the source of ignition indicates the fire progressed quickly after the fire started. “Fine grasses, abundant woody debris coupled with dense jack pine with low hanging branches caused the fire to start out as a surface fire and quickly move to the tree tops. It was only a matter of minutes before it hit the crowns, and it was off and running,” says Bibow.   The responsible party made a concerted effort to extinguish the fire using a fire extinguisher located in the cab of the harvester and immediately called 911. Bibow adds, “The entire logging crew stayed on scene. They have been extremely cooperative throughout this entire process.”   A thorough investigation has demonstrated that no negligence was involved and there was no intentional setting of fire to the land. The department recommends not pursuing criminal charges based on the investigation.