The Crystal Lake Fire

On April 14th, 2003, a wildfire began in northern Marquette County. The fire started early in the afternoon of an especially dry and windy day. The weather conditions, combined with highly flammable vegetation, resulted in an explosive situation when the wildfire began. The fire readily crowned (burned into the tops of the conifers) and started spot fires as flying embers separated from the flames.

Crown fire in a red pine plantation

Because of the intensity of the fire, all fire department resources were immediately put on structural protection status to try to preserve private property, homes, and cottages. Between 50 and 100 camper trailers in the Lake of the Woods Campground and 24 homes and outbuildings in the area were directly threatened by the fire and ultimately saved with the help of 17 local fire department engines and tankers, DNR engines, bulldozers, aircraf and air tankers, and private bulldozers.

Of the homes that survived, some made it because the homeowners had a fair amount of green space around structures, creating a defensible space for firefighters to work in. Other homes that survived, but had less defensible space, were damaged by the radiant heat of the flames, causing vinyl siding to melt and paint to blister.

Other homeowners were not as fortunate. One cottage, three outbuildings, three camper-trailers, and various boats, canoes, and other equipment were destroyed.

The close proximity of trees to this garage caused the vinyl to melt from the radiant heat emitted when the trees caught fire

The loss of buildings and timber to the fire was due, in part, to a lack of access (long, narrow driveways with minimal vertical clearance) and a lack of defensible space (minimal space between the buildings and highly flammable vegetation).

The fire was finally contained that evening after 572 acres had burned. The combined effort of everyone involved who worked to stop the fire, protect people's property, and prevent any loss of life kept a very bad situation from being worse. Crews were on the scene for three days extinguishing the fire and mopping up afterward.

After a thorough investigation, it was determined that the cause of the fire was debris burning. In this case, a large brush pile had been burned many weeks earlier when the ground was snow-covered, but was never fully extinguished, and continued to smolder deep under the ash.

Long, narrow, winding driveways make access difficult and potentially dangerous for firefighters

The dry, windy conditions on April 14th blew the ash away, exposing the smoldering fuels, and caused the brush pile to flare up, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal property and natural resources.

While the Crystal Lake Fire may be fresh in the minds of those who were there or lived nearby, it is by no means an uncommon occurrence. Wisconsin has a long history of destructive wildfires. Each year, homes across Wisconsin are threatened by wildfire. With the increasing number of homes and seasonal cabins being built in areas surrounded by highly flammable vegetation, structural protection has become the most difficult and important challenge to the Department of Natural Resources and local fire departments during any wildfire.

Man-made objects, like this propane tank, can endanger the lives of firefighters when they catch fire or explode

However the person who can have the most impact on whether a structure survives a wildfire is the homeowner. By incorporating "Firewise" principles before a fire event, homeowners can greatly increase the chances that their home will survive a wildfire, even if they don't see a fire truck during the course of a fire.