A wildfire in a state forest broke out near Houghton Lake on Sunday morning, is now 95% contained with firefighters working to put out hotspots as of Tuesday afternoon.
According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the fire is currently 101 acres. The source of the fire is currently unknown and under investigation.
Jeff Vasher, resource protection manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, hopes to get the fire fully contained soon.
"[It would] be a good chance that full containment will be, you know, like maybe later today or even tomorrow," he said. "All forward progression has stopped. Now what we're doing is we're just putting out hot spots, and we'll be there several days doing that."
Vasher said that a half inch of rain Monday evening provided some help. He said about 20-25 people were working, and the Roscommon Township Fire Department was providing water.
Still, he cautioned that dry weekend conditions will increase further wildfire risks.
"This rain didn't do nothing for us, it just kind of put a band-aid on for fires, for a couple days...We'll be right back with fire danger being high again."
NOAA drought maps show the Roscommon and Clare County regions to be in moderate to severe drought conditions as of the latest update. Conditions are measured by rainfall amounts compared to historical records in the same area.
Vasher says that burn permits Tuesday and Wednesday but, amid more dry conditions, permits will likely not issued on Friday.
"If you're going to have a campfire, make sure you have water nearby and a hand tool that you can rake the grass away if a fire starts to get out. Just make sure your fires completely out at night," said DNR Fire Specialist Paul Rogers.
Rogers said 85% of Michigan's wildfires start as burning human debris. The DNR recommends people to avoid burning anything until the state is no longer in drought conditions.
"Winds can pick up during the night. We have a cold front coming in which is going to kick the winds up. So make sure your fires are completely drowned and that they're good and cold before you go to bed at night," Rogers said.
We note the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is a financial supporter of WCMU. We report on them as we do any other organization.
