IRON MOUNTAIN, MI— Crews with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources are working to contain a wildfire in Dickinson County.
The fire was reported burning around 8:30 p.m. Sunday just past Pine Creek along Carney Lake Road, about 14 miles northeast of Iron Mountain. DNR Fire Specialist Keith Murphy says about five to six acres of mixed hardwoods and large pines have burned.
Nearly three dozen firefighters were working on the fire Monday, including a 20-person Hot Shot crew based in the Idaho panhandle and a helicopter on loan from the U.S. Forest Service. A Michigan State Police helicopter crew is dumping 320-gallon buckets of water on the fire. A dozen DNR firefighters are involved in the effort, along with two firefighters from the Norway City Fire Department.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The DNR is urging the public to avoid the area. A temporary flight restriction is in place prohibiting drone flights and private aircraft in the vicinity of the fire.
Across the U.P. and the rest of Michigan, fire danger today is characterized as either high, very high or extreme.
The extreme fire danger – which is heightened by a combination of high temperatures, dry conditions, strong gusting winds and low humidity readings – is reported from parts or all of Gogebic, Ontonagon, Houghton, Iron, Dickinson, Menominee and Delta counties.
“Please match the extreme fire conditions with an extreme use of caution with any source of fire,” said John Pepin, DNR deputy public information officer in Marquette. “The largest proportion of wildfires are caused by human-related activities.”
