Two fires are burning in remote areas of Gogebic County. Both were found Sunday, October 11.
The Black River Fire is south of Wakefield just east of County Road 519. It was reported to the National Forest Service around 8:00 a.m. Sunday. The fire is estimated to be roughly 100 acres, according to the National Forest Service. That may change based on more accurate ground mapping
The other fire is burning north of Wakefield off Camp 4 Grade Road on state lands. This fire is wind driven burning in hardwood. This fire is estimated to be about 10 acres.
The Forest Service is asking people to please use caution and obey all traffic controls.
There are no evacuations in places for either of these as of Sunday evening
Gogebic County Emergency Management/911 and the City of Wakefield are closely monitoring two active wildland fires located outside Wakefield's city limits. Neither fire poses an immediate threat to the City of Wakefield, according the City's Facebook post just before 3:00 p.m. Sunday.
Resources in the air and on the ground
Forest Service Public Information Officer Shanelle Saunders says pilots flying the two single engine scoopers were the ones to report the Camp 4 Grade Road Fire while they were working on the Black River Fire.
"They reported it to ground resources and some other folks that we had working the fire," said Saunders. "The decision was made to divert from Black River to that fire north, just because we already had ground resources and other folks on the first fire."
There was also a Type 3 Helicopter dropping buckets of water on the Black River Fire.
Even though there were lakes closer to the fire, the scoopers were pulling water from Lake Gogebic to fight the fires.
"Lake Gogebic, because of the winds today, it has that long takeoff, long landing area where they can effectively get water picked up in a safe manner," said Saunders.
To coordinate all the different aircrafts working on the fires, another one in the sky above everything else.
"It's called 'Air Attack'. There's somebody that has a lot of fire experience, and what they're doing is coordinating those aerial resources between what's going on in the air and what's going on on the ground," said Saunders. "They're really kind of helping with that logistical operational side for those air resources and ground resources."
The aircraft do not operate at night. Overnight, ground crews will continue working the fire.
Forest Service engines, city volunteer departments, and Michigan DNR resources are working on the fires. The Wakefield Fire Department has personnel and fire apparatus deployed at both fire grounds to assist with firefighting operations, along with departments from across the area.
"Typically, they're out there monitoring, watching it, holding, improving as they're able to, and sometimes that night work too helps out because it tends to die down a little bit at night with higher relative humidity," said Saunders.
The cause of the fires is not yet known.
High risk for wildfires
Spring it typically the worse time of year for wildfires in places like northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. Wildfires in the fall still do happen, though the critical time period is typically shorter.
Gogebic County was under a Red Flag Warning most of the weekend.
"We usually do have those dry periods in the fall where we'll have increased fire danger or days with longer susceptibility, just because of the dry leaves and plants going dormant and all the things that the forest and vegetation is going through," said Saunders. "What really I think affected us the last couple of days, on top of what we have with drought, is that those high temperatures and high winds. I don't think we typically see 80 degrees this time of year, so that was probably the biggest factor for us the yesterday and today."
Many places, including Ironwood and Rhinelander, set new record highs this weekend.
While the forecast this week does look more seasonal with highs in the 50s and some chances for rain, Saunders cautions people to be careful with burning or anything that could spark a fire.
"We have been in a long-term drought pattern, so we just need people to be extra careful. Put out your campfires or abide by those local state restrictions, and just be careful working outside right now with machinery. Any piece of metal hitting a rock could cause a spark. There's just things that we'll have to be careful of right now," said Saunders.
People should not fly or operate drones near wildfires. Any that flies near a fire shuts down operations and puts the safety of everyone at risk, according to the Forest Service.
Further north in the U.P., two fires near Marquette have lead to some homes being evacuated and trail closures. The Michigan DNR is providing updates on those fires on Facebook.
This story will be updated when additional information is available.
