Brush Fire Near Fort Atkinson Destroys Barn, Damages Two Homes

Overview

• A brush fire near Hebron Township in Jefferson County spread to structures, destroying a large timber-frame barn and damaging two nearby homes.
• Fort Atkinson crews arrived to find the barn fully involved and pushed an interior attack in a nearby house to stop flames at the attached four-car garage.
• Twelve fire departments coordinated four operational sectors and drafted water from the Bark River to keep the vegetation fire to under two acres.
• One firefighter was taken to a hospital for evaluation and released later, and crews rescued a family dog from the threatened home without injury.
• Fire Chief Bruce Peterson cautioned that dry conditions heighten fire danger and urged residents to follow local burning rules as the cause remains under review.