Portage Co. strike team assembles for massive Fort McCoy blaze
By Brandi Makuski
More than 30 firefighters from a dozen fire departments in the northern half of Wisconsin are heading to Fort McCoy.
Crews from Stevens Point, Hull, Rudolph, and Stockton, along with fire teams from Riverside, White Lake, Antigo, Rhinelander, Tomahawk, Newbold, Pine Lake, and other areas in the Northwoods, comprised a strike team to assist with a massive jack pine and oak forest land in and around Fort McCoy.
Fort McCoy is a U.S. Army installation on 60,000 acres between Sparta and Tomah in Monroe Co., about 90 minutes southwest of Stevens Point and Plover.
A fleet of engines, brush trucks, and UTVs from the various departments assembled at SPFD, 1701 Franklin St., mid-afternoon on April 13 to muster. They departed at about 3 p.m.
The fire was first reported on the military instillation on Wednesday, triggering a response from departments across the state via the MABAS system.
MABAS stands for Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. It’s a cooperative response system that helps dispatchers know which combination of fire, EMS, law enforcement, and other agencies, to send to an emergency scene.
“The last briefing I received was over 3,000 acres burned already, with some structures consumed,” said Merrill Fire Chief Josh Klug, adding that numerous federal, state, and military resources had already been deployed.
It was Northcentral Wisconsin’s turn to pull a 12-hour shift on Thursday in what’s being referred to as the Jake Pine fire, which is currently about 50 percent contained, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Klug was leading the strike tam, along with Stevens Point Fire Chief Jb Moody, Assistant Chief Dennis Zvara, and Rhinelander Fire Chief Brian Tonnancour.
The team would stag at the DNR station in Black River Falls, and take direction from there, Klug said.
Moody said three off-duty members of SPFD were part of the strike team.
“Our primary focus is safety, and we’ll do whatever is necessary to make sure everyone gets back safely, and returns to their station safe and sound,” Moody said.
