Fire Department

Ladder Company 1 was doing routine fire code inspections around downtown Madison when they came across the smell of smoke. After looking around, they traced the smoke to a large rotting tree stump.

Wind provided the fuel as the tree stump smoldered behind a property on the 400 block of N. Henry Street. A fire flared up when firefighters opened up the stump. Ladder 1 put out the fire with a water extinguisher and overhauled the stump.

Although firefighters can’t definitively say what caused the stump to smolder, they did find multiple cigarette butts in the area. Nobody was around at the time to provide additional information.