A family is displaced and without several pets after a Forestville fire Tuesday morning. Southern Door Fire Department was called to a fire at 7057 Maplewood Road at 8:40 AM. At that point, heavy smoke was already pouring out of the first floor. A farmworker hauling silage noticed something was wrong while driving by and alerted authorities. Chief Gary Vandertie says that personnel were forced up to the second floor of the residence to keep the blaze from spreading. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Vandertie says the family consists of school-age children and their parents. The kids had already been dropped off, and no one was in the home when the fire started. Unfortunately, several pets did not survive.
Vandertie also wanted to highlight another incident involving a pickup truck rear-ending a silage hauler at State Highway 42/57 and Emerald Drive, which happened Tuesday evening. He would like to remind motorists that they should expect extra farm traffic relating to the ongoing harvest.