Firefighters battle a wildfire. Credit: Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
By Gabriel S. Martinez
Capital News Service
An unusually busy fall fire season in Michigan has produced more than double the seasonal wildfires originally anticipated so far.
About 100 prescribed burns are scheduled on both state and federal land for next year to help reduce damage from future wildfires.
According to the state Department of Natural Resources, dry debris is the main cause of wildfires this year, contributing to about 58 more wildfires and 255 more acres burned in September and October than the usual fall average.
Jeff Vasher, a DNR fire specialist, said the lack of moisture is a factor in the high number of wildfires.
The Ottawa National Forest in the Upper Peninsula reported that the Summit Lake wildfire, started by dry wood underneath the forest floor on Oct. 18, burned about 225 acres before rain subdued its spread.
“The problem is with the drought being so bad. The fires are burning so deep in the ground so you’re mopping up day after day. We got one fire here in Midland County that started over a week ago and we’re still mopping it up now,” Vasher said.
“I’ve been here for 23 years and I’ve never seen a fall fire season like this. You might have five or six fires, you might be a little busy, but nothing like this. It’s just unreal,” Vasher said.
Prescribed fires are the controlled use of fire by a team of fire experts and intended to restore health to ecosystems that depend on fire, like jackpine forests and oak savannas in Michigan, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
“There’s probably 100 prescribed burns in the books for next year, and this year we got about 100 burns done, so just under 11,000 acres,” Vasher said.
Brian Stearns, the Huron-Manistee National Forests fuels specialist, said periodic controlled burns don’t change how flammable the ecosystem is but instead change how intensely it burns.
Huron-Manistee covers almost 1 million acres in the northern Lower Peninsula between lakes Huron and Michigan.
“In the event of a wildfire, if it happens in areas where we prescribed burns, it tends to be easier for our fire crews to handle because they’re less intense,” Stearns said. “There’s not as much materials and they’re not as hot.”
Applying prescribed fires on the land at the right place, at the right time and under the right weather conditions, can benefit the land and nearby communities.
Travis Owens, a Huron-Manistee public affairs officer based in Cadillac, said prescribed fires reduce hazardous fuels — thick, overgrown vegetation and dead and downed trees — that can lead to uncontrolled wildfires.
Prescribed fires also remove invasive species, improve habitat and promote tree growth, according to Owens.