Memorial Weekend Fire Leads to Campground Evacuation in Northern Michigan

People camping at a campground in Northern Michigan had to be evacuated over the weekend due to a nearby forest fire.

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Current Fire Conditions for Michigan

Back in the spring Michigan got its fair share of rain. So much so that early in April I had to begin mowing my lawn weekly. We seemed to get a few days of rain and then a few days of sun for about six weeks.

A few weeks into May and the rain just stopped altogether. I went from mowing every week to skipping a week when it's usually the other way around by Memorial weekend. One thing I have noticed is how quickly it has gotten dry this Spring.

Before I burned my ice storm damage debris, I soaked the area around my burn pit with water figuring there was a possibility of the fire spreading. Good thing I did that because the fire did try and spread very quickly but preparation made it easy to contain.

According to the Forest Service, most of West and Northern Michigan are under extreme fire conditions at this time so it is very easy for a simple ember to do some serious damage. Unfortunately, a fire did cause some damage over the Memorial weekend in Northern Michigan.

Northern Michigan Campground Evacuated Due to Forest Fire

There's a campground in Cadillac Michigan called Chippewa Landing which is very popular with campers and those who like to canoe and kayak. The campground is surrounded by miles of national forests on the Manistee River.

Unfortunately, Sunday afternoon a forest fire took place in Wexford County that set ablaze around 80 acres of forest just off of US-131. There is no word on what started the blaze.

According to MLive, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources was called about a large forest fire around 7 p.m. Sunday. Michigan State Police said no homes were in the path of the fire but did have to evacuate the Chippewa Landing Campground.

The fire has been contained and no one was reported injured but police and firefighters are still investigating the cause of the blaze.