DNR contains fire in Tomahawk Flooding area

A grass fire in the Tomahawk Flooding area broke out on Saturday and destroyed about 35 acres of brush and jack pine forest, according to Joe Soncrainte, forest fire officer supervisor for the Michigan DNR office in Atlanta.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation but speculation by some firefighters is that sparks from the unbaffled exhaust of an off-road-vehicle may have been responsible.

Due to the extreme fire hazard across the state last week, DNR director Rebecca Humphries signed an emergency order to ban campfires and open burning in any DNR-managed lands. This ban remains in effect despite the recent rain in some parts of the state.

Soncrainte said the fire spread quickly through

the dry surface fuels in the area. He reported that the DNR immediately dispatched four tractor plows and four water trucks to the scene.

“We know how quickly fire under these conditions can spread. We were fortunate the wind died down when it did and we were able to get it under control within about an hour and a half,” he said.

Most of the destroyed wood was jack pine, the fire did move through an open area of clear cut oak and jumped some roads before being contained. Onaway fire fighters assisted the DNR in controlling the blaze by sending an additional water truck to the scene.

“Once the wind died down we were able to get a line around the fire using a bulldozer,” Soncrainte said.