For the second day in a row, multiple departments were called to respond to a fire partially caused by the area's dry conditions. Firefighters from the Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Fire Department responded to an area near Timberline Road and Europe Lake Road, where downed power lines caused a fire in nearby woods. Due to the location of the fire and the dry, gusty conditions, the fire departments from Baileys Harbor and Ephraim were also called into action. Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Fire Chief Chris Hecht says chainsaws and other tools were needed to extinguish the fire, even applauding Appel Outdoor Maintenance for assisting their efforts with a Bobcat. While storms predicted for Wednesday night into Thursday could cause more downed power lines that they will have to respond to, Hecht says the rain will be a welcome relief for an area that entered the day as one of over 20 counties experiencing very high fire danger levels.
The fire burned approximately 1.5 acres and took about 90 minutes to fully extinguish. In addition to Wisconsin Public Service having to respond to return power to the area, roads around the fire were temporarily closed while firefighters fought the blaze. According to the National Weather Service, some parts of Door County could get as much as 1.5 inches of rain beginning Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
