Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources is helping an island's firefighters after they lost their equipment in a blaze earlier this month.
A fire broke out March 6 at the only fire hall in LaPointe, the town on Madeline Island, and crews from Ashland, Bayfield, Red Cliff and Washburn responded to the call, KSTP-TV reports. But because the ice wasn't strong enough to support most pieces of apparatus, only smaller, light vehicles could be used to fight the fire.
Ultimately, LaPointe lost all its firefighting equipment to the blaze, including apparatus, an ambulance, breathing masks and other gear. That's when the DNR stepped in.
The department re-badged and labeled their firefighting vehicles waiting to be auctioned and sent them across the ice to LaPointe, according to the TV station. Equipment from other departments, as well as the Fire and Technical Rescue program at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Ashland, also was loaned to the town, which its firefighters can use while they rebuild the fire hall and buy new gear.
"We're very isolated up here. It can take 45 minutes for help to arrive from the mainland," LaPointe firefighter Nathan Nelson told KSTP. "This will help for sure. It's been overwhelming the support we've been getting."
