The Pine River Fire Department and a deputy responded last Tuesday morning to a smoke scare at a residence. Just after 8 a.m., a woman called 911 from a home on Skylark Lane and reported that smoke from her pellet stove had backed up into the residence. Firefighters checked the stove and found no problems and returned to quarters a short time later.
Heavy, wet snowfall on Thursday caused problems on the roadways and kept deputies busy. Seventeen reports were received of vehicles sliding off the road and seven crashes were investigated. None of the incidents involved any injuries, but the evening commute was severely affected by the snow. In one incident, traffic was stopped on State Rd. 64 in the Town of Pine River after a semi could not get up a hill at High Ridge Rd. A deputy stood by and provided lights while a county highway truck went through the area twice, giving the empty semitrailer enough sand to get traction and continue on its way.
A 52-year-old Merrill man was arrested Sunday evening for violating terms of his probation. Deputies were sent to Vista Drive in the Town of Merrill after the electronics monitoring center for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections advised the man was violating terms of his probation by drinking. When deputies made contact with the man, he provided a breath sample which showed he had been drinking. The man was brought to the Lincoln County Jail and held.
The number of car deer crashes keeps increasing with eight being reported this past week.