Damage From Large Wildfire Estimated at $1M

The timber company that owns most of the Douglas County land that burned in one of Wisconsin’s largest forest fires says damage will exceed $1 million.

Lyme St. Croix Timber Co., executive Sean Ross says the fire damaged most of its 5,200 acres. He tells the Journal Sentinel the timber land was not insured for fire damage.

The massive blaze last May consumed about 7,400 acres, destroyed 17 homes and forced dozens of people to evacuate.

The state Department of Natural Resources has billed the logging company that started the fire more than $600,000. The DNR announced shortly after the fire was contained that a logging crew’s cutting machine sparked the blaze.

The DNR concluded the logging company, Rib Lake-based Ray Duerr Logging, didn’t properly maintain its equipment.