Five years ago the Cottonville fire destroyed 30 homes and burned 3,410 acres near Rome, Wisconsin (map). In December the Town Board inacted a new ordinance that requires clearance of vegetation on private property.
- Anyone who owns property smaller than 2 acres must keep it free of dead trees and brush, regardless of whether there is a structure on the land.
- Anyone with 2 acres or more must keep dead trees and brush cleared away from within 100 feet of structures.
More information
Their new law doesn’t suprise me. I was on that fire and cruising around after the action had settled down we saw picture perfect examples of how and why FireWise works. The homes that fell into FireWise criteria didn’t burn, and the ones that were FireWise violations had nothing left but chimneys. By the way, that fire was started by a man who was burning the grass around his fire ring that afternoon (while burning restrictions were in place) in order to make it “more safe” for a fire in his fire ring that night.
..and, beleive it or not, that structure in the photo survived!
Wrong Rome on the map.
Yes, I’m the Cliff Claven of useless trivia…
You want Rome, Adams County which is in the Wisconsin Dells.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=+Adams+County,+WI&sll=44.209096,-89.818597&sspn=0.022887,0.038581&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Adams+County,+Wisconsin&ll=44.204728,-89.795208&spn=0.091554,0.154324&z=13
However Google Maps doesn’t show that Rome. I did some Googling to confirm where the Cottonville fire was and Big Flats FD, and some more to find a precinct map for Adams County…that Lake Sherwood is in the Town of Rome even though “Rome” isn’t on the map.
Thanks Dalmation. I fixed the link to point to the other Rome.