GREEN LAKE COUNTY (NBC 26) — During a 750 acre wildfire in Green Lake County Monday night, the DNR says six homes were evacuated, but the fire was contained before any buildings or houses were damaged.
- The Wisconsin DNR says the Big Island Fire burned 750 acres.
- The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
- DNR says six homes were evacuated, but no buildings were destroyed.
Pam Alf, owner of Berlin Fitness, lives near the White River Marsh State Wildlife Area, where the wildfire burned over 700 acres.
“By the time I got home I thought oh my goodness this is really getting out of control,” she says.
She says the sheriff’s office told her to evacuate
“Kind of an unsettling feeling,” she says. “Fires travel very quickly and the wind was just crazy.”
Alf says while controlled burns are common in the area, she hasn’t seen a wildfire this big in 30 years.
“Our number one priority is life, protecting people, the public,” Jason Hennes, a Waupaca Forest Ranger, says.
According to the DNR, the flames started at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
“Initially spotted from the DNR aircraft as they were working on a fire further south,” Hennes says.
By midnight, the fire was 100% contained, but Hennes says it was still an active fire into Tuesday.
“Currently working on securing the perimeter,” he says. “We got resources out there, finding those hot spots, and extinguishing them.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Hennes says people need to be cautious.
“They need to be checking the DNR website, getting burning permits, checking the fire danger, checking the burning restrictions for the day, because we are in our spring fire season and things can happen very very fast and get out of control.”
