MILWAUKEE — Most of Wisconsin's southern half remains under an "extreme" risk for wildfires and state agencies issued a Red Flag Warning for the worst areas in north-central portions of the state on Friday.
This is the third day portions of the state are under a Red Flag Warning as dry conditions, low humidity and high winds greatly increase the threat of wildfires.
The Wisconsin DNR and the National Weather Service issued the latest Red Flag Warning for Friday, April 14, 2023 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the following counties:
- Adams, Buffalo, Clark, Green Lake, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Marquette, Monroe, Portage, Trempealeau, Waupaca, Waushara and Wood counties.
Burning is still NOT permitted with all DNR-issued burning permits, according to a news release from the DNR on Friday.
In the last week, the DNR says state agencies responded to more than 3,000 acres of land burned by wildfires.
These are the latest updates on the wildfires burning in Wisconsin April of 2023:
- Jack Pine Fire: The Jack Pine Fire burned about 106 acres and is currently contained, according to the DNR.
- Arcadia Fire: The DNR and Fort McCoy are managing the 3,186-acre Arcadia Fire, which is about 77 percent contained, according to the DNR. About 150 people are helping fight the fire. That's in Monroe County near the Jackson County border. Twitter coverage here.
- Fire evacuations: All Arcadia Fire evacuations have been rescinded as of noon Friday April 14. Property owners living in the evacuated area are now allowed to return, according to the DNR.
- Fighting the fires: According to the DNR, "The fire is burning in oak and pine. The fire behavior remained active overnight and firefighter crews are making progress by using engines and dozers to build containment lines. Crews worked overnight to secure and build new containment lines."
- Injuries: No injuries have been reported, according to the DNR.
- Damage: Three structures were damaged and one shed was destroyed, according to the DNR.
- Investigation: A thorough investigation is being conducted on the cause of the wildfire, according to the DNR.
The wildfires prompted local authorities to call for the evacuation of dozens of people living nearby.
"A lot of the difficulty [containing the fire] has been the topography," said Katy Broquard of the fire's incident management team. "It's hard to get equipment and people directly on the fire line, so a lot of what [firefighters] are doing is indirect attack, where they put in a line with the bulldozer and let the fire come to the break, instead of actively fighting the flames."
Broquard said this weekend's forecast of cooler temperatures and a potential of rain are expected to help with completing containment of the fire.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued a State of Emergency, allowing for more state resources including National Guard and their helicopters to be used to put out the wildfires.
Check out the Wisconsin DNR's interactive wildfire risk map here.
A close-up of the ash on the fire line of the massive Arcadia fire in Monroe County. So far, 77% of the fire is contained and over 3,100 acres burned. @tmj4 pic.twitter.com/91FS3EoKvK
— Mariam Mackar (@mariammackar) April 14, 2023
Reporting from Thursday: 3,000-acre wildfire burns in Monroe County, 50% contained
By Julia Marshall, Madison Goldbeck, Mariam Mackar, April 13, 2023
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said agencies are battling a roughly 3,000-acre wildfire in Monroe County. As of Thursday evening, 50% of the fire is contained.
The DNR said previous communications indicated the fire was in Jackson County, but mapping now shows the fire is in Monroe County near the Jackson County border.
The fire began at the north end of Fort McCoy and initially sparked voluntary evacuations Wednesday into Thursday.
As of Thursday morning, no one had been injured in the fire, but three structures were damaged and one shed was destroyed. By the evening, an additional 85 structures were deemed in danger and evacuations were ordered.
The cause of the wildfire is under investigation, but Fort McCoy posted on social media earlier in the day saying the Army National Guard was conducting controlled burn training exercises.
"We do know that we were doing prescribed burns," shared Major General Matthew Baker with Ft. McCoy. "Risk assessments were done, evaluations were done— we have no further confirmation on how this is going, but we are going to do a really in-depth investigation on this."
Whether or not the controlled burns caused the wildfire, has not been determined. Major General Baker said this fire is happening during the height of training season and will affecting the base's plans for this weekend.
"We have about 2,000 soldiers coming in for the weekend to train," said Gen. Baker. "We’ve had to adjust the training down to South Post we have a no pyro, no live ammo mandate right now— that means there will be no pyrotechnics anywhere on Fort McCoy for training."
The Wisconsin National Guard said in a statement two Wisconsin Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the Army Aviation Support Facility #2 in Madison, Wisconsin were flown on April 12 to Necedah in Juneau County to fight those wildfires.
In-Depth: Red Flag Warnings and why they’re rare in Wisconsin
By Ben Jordan, April 13, 2023
The National Weather Service issued another Red Flag Warning Thursday as two-thirds of the state is considered to be in extreme fire danger.
Warm, dry, and windy conditions are the three primary factors that trigger the alert.
Storm Team 4 Meteorologist Brendan Johnson said red flag warnings are fairly uncommon in Wisconsin.
"I know a lot of folks are like, 'red flag? There's no word in there that makes that easy to understand’. It's for fire. It's a high fire danger is essentially what it is,” he said.
Prior to Wednesday’s warning, the last time Milwaukee County was under a Red Flag Warning was more than a decade ago in the spring of 2012.
“Why are red flag warnings considered to be rare here?” TMJ4 Reporter Ben Jordan asked.
"It's a high bar,” Johnson replied. "It's got to be very dry outside, it's got to be very warm outside and it's also got to be windy."
Prior to back-to-back warnings this week, Johnson says the two prior Red Flag Warnings also came in the spring during a dry stretch after the snow melted.
"Throw in some warm air, you've got an environment that number one could allow a wildfire to start and number two, a wildfire to spread,” he said.
When it comes to warm air, an organization called Climate Central found average temperatures from March to May in Wisconsin are two degrees warmer than they were in 1970.
A National Weather Service study shows Milwaukee’s average temperature has climbed 1.4 degrees in the last three decades.
Alex Bukvich leads UW-Milwaukee’s Innovative Weather Center. It’s a program where students studying to be meteorologists witnessed a record-breaking high-temperature Thursday in Milwaukee.
“Is 1.4 degrees warmer here in Milwaukee concerning considering it’s over just 30 years?” Jordan asked.
"I would mark that as significant, yes,” Bukvich said.
While Bukvich says there’s no question the world is warming up, he tells TMJ4 News that recent Red Flag Warnings shouldn’t be correlated with climate change. At least for now.
"This Red Flag Warning, this heat wave we can't correlate with climate change, but if you see them persistently over the course of a decade and see them impacting climate norms then that's where you start to blend from the weather to the climate and seeing those impacts,” he said.
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