By Craig Manning | June 7, 2023
In northern Michigan, we’re used to reading about wildfires happening elsewhere – California, maybe, or Canada. On numerous occasions recently, though, the flames have gotten closer to home. This past weekend, a wildfire raged just southeast of Grayling, growing at its peak to more than 3,000 acres. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), that fire was “more than 90 percent contained” as of Monday, but still had a 2,400-acre reach. On the heels of that inferno and numerous smaller-but-still-worrisome wildfires here in Leelanau County, the Leelanau Ticker checked in with local experts to find out how dry conditions and elevated fire risks could affect summer. The Grayling fire is the biggest wildfire northern Michigan has seen this year – big enough to prompt a temporary closure of I-75 and force the evacuation of dozens of homes – but it’s not the only local wildfire in 2023. In April, a downed power line near Thoreson Road in Glen Arbor Township ignited a fast-moving wildfire that burned 14 acres of forest within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. According to Andy Blake – the Lakeshore’s Leelanau district ranger and wildland fire coordinator – that blaze is just one of three to happen in the park so far this year; the second and third have both occurred within the past two weeks. The good news is that the more recent fires – both of which were also caused by downed power lines – only burned about a quarter-acre of parkland each. The bad news?
“I would say that, in an average year, we see two or three fires total,” Blake says of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. “But that’s throughout the entire year. To have had three in the park already by June, that’s definitely high for us.”
Unseasonably dry weather is the reason for the heavier-than-average wildfire activity. Sustained periods of drought, combined with high temperatures, low humidity, and high winds, trigger what are called “red flag warnings” from the United States National Weather Service, which denote elevated fire risk. In these situations, the dryness of fire “fuels” – such as grasses, dead leaves, and pine needles – create a tinderbox situation that can ignite easily and burn quickly, leading to fast-spreading wildfires. Windy days exacerbate the issue, because embers or ashes from any fire can easily blow into a high-fuel area and ignite a blaze.
It was precisely those conditions that Nate Perdue observed with the Thoreson Road fire back in April. Perdue, a lieutenant within the Glen Arbor Fire Department, was the first firefighter on the scene, and recalls seeing just how quickly the flames spread.
“It was really dry that day, and very windy as well,” Perdue tells the Leelanau Ticker. When I got there, a tree was down, the power line was down, the line was still arcing, and the fire was quickly going up the hill.”
Though the fire was only about a quarter-acre in size when Perdue arrived on the scene – and though he’d called for backup before he even left the station – he says the flames ultimately traveled “too far, too fast for us to catch up.”
It ultimately took 16 governmental entities – including the DNR, the National Parks Service, and more than a dozen local fire departments – to get the fire under control. Per Perdue, no fewer than 52 firefighters were involved. The fight cost the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore approximately 90 trees, many of which Perdue says had to come down “because the tops of the trees were on fire and were throwing embers.”
There have been no appreciable rainfall events in Leelanau County since the weekend of May 20-21, and May itself saw rainfall 42 percent below average for that month,according to the National Weather Service. There is also no rain to be seen in the 15-day forecast, which could mean an even drier June. The conditions have both Perdue and Blake on high alert – especially given that summertime brings out behaviors that can start fires.
Perdue notes that this time of year tends to see a lot of brush burning – or situations where people burn leaves from last fall, grass clippings, weeds, or other yard waste. “Right now, the whole state has a burn ban,” Perdue says, which means those types of fires are presently illegal.
What about campfires, bonfires, or beach fires? Blake says Sleeping Bear Dunes is putting together a social media campaign aimed specifically at discouraging people from having beach fires within the park. “We’re not going to do a full ban yet, but that could happen,” he says. “I don’t think we’ve done a complete fire ban since 2010.” For anyone who does choose for have a beach fire, Blake recommends doing so as close to the water as possible (“You need to be away from any type of grass,” he says) and stresses the importance of making sure the fire is fully out before you leave.
“People will sometimes have a beach fire, they leave it, and then there’s a log that burns all night,” Blake explains. “Then the next day, it warms up, the wind starts to blow, and an ember from those fires can get into the grass. With these kinds of dry conditions, that grass is what’s going to ignite really fast.”
Both the Grayling fire and another recent local wildfire – a 136-acre blaze near Manton that broke out the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend – originated from campfires. To avoid something similar in Sleeping Bear, Blake says rangers will be patrolling and educating visitors on fire risks and etiquette. Just this week, the park got two additional firefighters from the Indiana Dunes National Park – which Sleeping Bear contracts with for fire services – to help manage the extreme fire dangers that exist in and around the park.
“And then, later in the week or possibly next week, we might get another two or three people and an additional fire engine [from Indiana], if the fire danger remains high,” Blake adds.
As for another popular summertime tradition – fireworks – Perdue is hopeful that June rain will make way for safe Fourth of July celebrations. If it doesn’t, though, Independence Day plans might need to be adjusted to avoid unnecessary wildfire risks.
“Those embers and those light combustible materials from fireworks can just drift and drift with the wind until they land somewhere,” Perdue explains. “So, 100 percent, if this dry season continues, fireworks are a prime example of something we should be avoiding.”
Pictured: Firefighters combat the Thoreson Road fire this past April (courtesy of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore)
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