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Weekly Blast: The Town Board held its monthly meeting on Wednesday. Here are several noteworthy items: Road base material awards went to Earth Inc. for ¾” hard rock and to Red Rock Granite, Inc. for 1 ¼” screened red granite. To start, the Board agreed to allocate $14,150 to purchase hard rock to complete a section of Evergreen Ave. west of County Road F which began last year. The final count on Tire Day was 358 tires collected with $2,344 received from residents. The invoice we received from Liberty Tire Recycling was $3,499.51 creating a differential of $1,155.51. This amount will be paid from our town budget and added to the 2026 operational costs of the Transfer Station. Sadly, this difference is due to “road-killed tires” that people live in our ditches and road rights of ways. If you ever see this happening, please note a license plate or other descriptive information that we can pass on to law enforcement. Each year we receive a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for our recycling efforts. We received $2,289.05 based on two components: $1,841.99 from the basic recycling grant award and $447.06 from the recycling consolidation grant award. Thanks are extended to Clerk Stefanie Schlapa for compiling the required information for the Dept. on our behalf. Last evening I attended the Ambulance Board meeting with our partners from the Wood County Towns of Grand Rapids, Rudolph, Seneca, Sigel, and the Village of Rudolph. Gary Johnson, co-owner of United Emergency Medical Response (UEMR) provided an update. If you were at the Town of Grant’s Annual Meeting you may recall two areas of concern which were reiterated last night: People are calling 911 for “lift assists” instead of calling their family, friends, or neighbors. UEMR receives 2 to 4 of these calls per week. These people are not injured but need help getting off the ground, out of chairs, off toilets, out of their cars, etc. Although UEMR is happy to provide this service current state laws to not allow ambulances to divert from a lift assist to a “true” 911 call. UEMR’s concern, due to the large geographic area that they service, is that one day they may have to delay a response to a heart attack, stroke, or other emergency due to a lift assist where the individual has other options for assistance. Accidental Medic Alert activations (bracelets & necklaces). UEMR receives about 2 of these calls per week. Like above, rather than calling 911, family, friends, etc. should be the “first alert” on the device rather than the ambulance. The life alert companies that boast about saving a life every so many seconds do so because they recommend 911 as the first call in a successful effort to boost their statistics. Garry reported that many times people activate these devices simply by rolling over them in bed. This results in UEMR sometimes breaking doors or windows to gain access to homes to find the resident sleeping. It really is true…you learn something every day! Enjoy the weekend, Sharon

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Special Fire Order Issued Due to Ongoing Drought

DNR Reinstates Burning Permits Beginning Oct. 15
In 13 Wisconsin Counties

 MADISON, Wis. – Due to prolonged drought conditions and potential for elevated fire danger, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will reinstate DNR burning permits by issuing a Special Fire Order in 13 Wisconsin counties. The permit reinstatement will begin at 12:01 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, in designated DNR protection areas until further notice. 

The permit reinstatement applies to the following 13 extensive DNR protection area counties outside incorporated cities and villages: all of Columbia, Crawford, Green Lake, Marquette, Portage, Richland, Sauk, Waupaca, Waushara counties and portions of Oconto, Dane, Grant and Iowa counties.

A DNR annual burning permit is now required for burning in a barrel, a debris pile and grass or wooded areas as outlined by the permit, unless the ground is completely snow-covered. Before burning in these areas, anyone wishing to burn must obtain a DNR burn permit and then visit WisBURN for the current burn restrictions.

Traditionally, DNR burn permits are required in extensive protection areas from Jan. 1 through May 31, anytime the ground is not snow-covered. Reinstating permits allows the DNR to suspend burning on a given day during times of elevated fire danger.

A DNR burn permit is not required for campfires intended for cooking or warming, but the public is reminded to use extreme caution. Consider having small campfires in a designated fire ring or device in the evening hours to avoid burning under elevated fire conditions, which are typically found during the day.  

Current wildfire concerns are primarily due to the lack of precipitation across the entire state. Wisconsin has received record low rain in recent weeks, resulting in varying levels of moderate to severe drought. Wildfires that occur under these conditions can burn for great lengths of time and smolder underground for days and can be challenging to suppress. 

Dry conditions, coupled with the potential for increased fire danger in the fall due to dead leaves, pine needles and other dry vegetation on the ground, make debris burning especially risky. Debris burning continues to be the leading cause of wildfires in Wisconsin.   

The DNR intends to keep the permit requirements in place until the drought situation improves significantly, either due to long-term rain or snow events. The DNR will continue to evaluate as conditions change.  

Check current fire danger, wildfire reports and burning restrictions on the DNR website.