Michigan’s largest national forest watches for wildfires
Hot, dry weather brings the risk of wildfires. Ottawa National Forest shares what to look for, and what plans are in place during wildfire season.
Hot and dry weather brings the risk of fires to the U.P. and Northern Lower Peninsula for weeks.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has issued warnings and halted burn permits due to the possibility of wildfires in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Peninsula.
Public information officer for the Ottawa National Forest Shanelle Sanders says residents should stay up to date on fire risks. “If the weather’s been dry for a long time or lets say you’re driving on a dirt road and it’s super dusty, that’s a good indicator that you might want to be extra cautious.”
Sanders says the forest assembles a team of wildland firefighters when danger is high.
“We actually bring in some extra resources from out of state… in Ottawa right now, we actually have a type 1 hotshot crew, we have extra aircraft and engines that are prepositioned to kind of help if anything starts.”
Ottawa is Michigan’s largest national forest at over one million acres.
Updates about wildfire risk and prevention can be found on the Michigan DNR’s website.
This story is a part of WDET’s on-going series, The Detroit Tree Canopy Project. The project is funded by an MDNR grant, but all editorial decisions are made by WDET’s journalists.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.Donate today »
