Wednesday’s winter storm proved challenging for emergency responders, with incidents occurring throughout the county, including two fires. The area saw a wide range of precipitation on Wednesday as rain turned into snow during the early afternoon before switching to snow for several hours. According to the National Weather Service, the Sturgeon Bay area received approximately six inches of snow compared to about two inches in Manitowoc and Green Bay.  As a result, Thursday’s dispatch report from the Door County Sheriff’s Department showed that there were nearly 20 reports of cars in ditches between approximately 8 p.m. Wednesday and 4:30 a.m. Thursday. There were also several reports of trees and power wires down and debris on the road. 

Complicating matters were two fire calls that occurred in southern Door County. At about 7:45 p.m., the Brussels-Union-Gardner Fire Department responded to a wire being down and catching a tree on fire near School Lane in the Town of Gardner. About an hour later, the Nasewaupee Fire Department responded to a chimney fire on Guilette Road. 

Even residents who did not require emergency response felt the effect of Wednesday’s storm. Hundreds were without power due to the high winds knocking down trees and power lines. After being at over 400 customers at 10 p.m. Wednesday, Wisconsin Public Service was able to trim that number down to cut that number by more than half by 9 a.m., with most outages occurring north of Baileys Harbor. The Washington Island Electric Cooperative was also busy Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Crews blamed the wind and the heavy snow for weighing down branches and causing problems with its electric lines.

Picture courtesy of Door County Sheriff's Department