GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Green Bay police and fire officials want the public’s help in figuring out how several small fires started Tuesday afternoon at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary.
At this point, they aren’t sure if the fires were set intentionally, accidently or a natural result of our dry conditions.
“Every fire we respond to is treated as suspicious until proven otherwise,” said Lt. Shauna Walesh of Green Bay Metro Fire.
“Unfortunately, we can’t prove it isn’t or that it’s not suspicious, so that is kind of why we did that call out to see if anybody does know anything.”
There was plenty of concern when visitors at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary told staff members several small fires were burning near the enclosed area for deer.
“It was all hands on deck making sure that our animals were safe and that the public was safe,” said Dan Ditscheit, Green Bay’s parks director.
Luckily, no animals or people were injured, and the only damage was charred wood on the deer viewing platform.
Now, fire investigators want anyone who was at the sanctuary between 2 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. Tuesday to call police at (920) 448-3200 or Crime Stoppers at (920) 432-7867 if they saw anything. People can also call the Green Bay Metro Fire Marshal’s Office at (920) 448-3280.
“Maybe they saw someone smoking in the area,” said Walesh. “Any information you might not think it’s important, but it might actually lead to some importance in the investigation.”
While none of the fires were large, Walesh says they were spread out from the deer area to around the corner, down a paved walking trail.
“It definitely raises a little bit of concern being so many,” said Walesh. “However, with cottonwood in that area, it is very flammable, so it doesn’t take much for that to burn and burn quickly.”
The city has been looking into beefing up surveillance at the sanctuary for a while. Ditscheit says it is a good idea, even if the fire ends up not being set intentionally.
“So, we’re looking at adding more cameras, adding more security alarms and we’re in the process of doing that and we were doing that prior to this event,” said Ditscheit.
And while conditions remain dry, fire officials warn to be careful before burning anything.
“It will not take much for a fire to start,” said Walesh.
The fire department says it has had several vegetation fires in the last few days.
