The Cottonville Fire

On May 5th, 2005, a wildfire began in northern Adams county. The fire started early in the afternoon on a day with weather conditions prime to spread flames. The day was warm and windy, 75 degrees with southwesterly winds of about 14 mph with gusts up to 22 mph. A relative humidity of only 18 percent meant the already dead grasses were now completely dry. In an area known as sand country, the dominant vegetation able to grow in the area is grass, pine, and scrub oak--all species known for their ability to burn quickly and intensely.

The fire rapidly spread through grass, needles and brush to the tops of the pine trees close by. Immediately after assessing the conditions of the fire, DNR fire control activated the Incident Management Team (IMT) while local law enforcement began evacuating ahead of the fire.

Fire department resources were put on structural protection to try to defend the hundreds of homes, cabins, trailers, campers, and outbuildings in the area. Air resources included two DNR single-engine air tankers and a CL-215 from Minnesota DNR used for dropping water and fire retardant as well as two DNR air attack planes that directed the drops and worked as spotters for crews on the ground.

The IMT was staffed by personnel from the DNR as well as personnel from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, County Emergency Management, local Fire Departments, and the Adams County Sheriff's Department. Operations were divided into a Structural Branch, Law Enforcement Branch and a Wildfire Branch. On the wildfire end, firefighters secured the origin of the fire and used tractor plows to flank the fire. Resources used included 38 tractor plows, 25 Forest Rangers with Type 7 4x4s, three low-ground units, six heavy dozers, and almost 200 DNR personnel to control and eventually suppress the wildfire. Air resources cooled the flanks for ground crews and dropped water and fire retardant on structures.

On the structural end, fire department resources were assigned "zones" of residences to defend. DNR staff had just completed an update of the Adams County zones and maps with the help of a USFS National Fire Plan grant. These maps visually identify where buildings are located and are color-coded into named zones, creating an efficient way to organize fire department resources and ultimately resulting in decreased structure loss.

The updated maps had beem used by Adams County fire departments just prior to the fire in simulation exercises where personnel were given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with using the zones during an emergency. During the Cottonville fire, 16 zones were staffed for evacuation and protection.

The Law Enforcement Branch worked to evacuate and secure the area. Over 100 people were quickly evacuated to the Pineland Grade School where they were able to get information and assistance. The Law Enforcement Branch also began an investigation into the origin and cause of the fire.

The fire was finally contained 11 hours later after 3,410 acres had burned. Crews were on the scene for several days extinguishing smaller fires within the containment area and mopping up.

In total, the fire burned a swath one and one-half miles wide and seven miles long through the towns of Big Flats, Preston, and Colburn.

An estimated 300 buildings were saved due to firefighter assistance and in some cases because the homeowners had a fair amount of green space around structures. This green space, known in the fire prevention and control world as "defensible space," creates a safer area for firefighters to work in when defending a home. In cases where firefighters are simply unable to assist every property, this defensible space is often enough for a home to survive a wildfire on its own.

There were nine year-round residences, 21 seasonal homes, and at least 60 outbuildings that were completely destroyed in the fire. The loss of these buildings was due, in part at least, to a lack of access (long, narrow driveways) and a lack of defensible space.

Some buildings, trailers, and campers were literally tucked in amongst a stand of dense pine trees, leaving them virtually no chance of surviving a wildfire. On these properties, several residential propane tanks vented and several smaller "20-pound" propane cylinders exploded.

Several days after the fire, a team of fire management specialists from the DNR, University of Wisconsin, and representatives of the Forest Service did a thorough assessment of the incident, focusing on prevention and awareness activities in the area before the fire, firefighter preparedness, structure survival and destruction, and wildfire perceptions of people living in the affected area. Many things were learned that will affect wildfire prevention, education, readiness, and suppression techniques into the future. For more information on the post-fire assessment, contact personnel in the Bureau of Forest Protection.