MARQUETTE, Mich. — Michigan DNR firefighters posted fresh containment gains Wednesday on three Upper Peninsula wildfires that still force park and trail shutdowns.
Northwest of Marquette, the Ridge Fire sits near 434 acres with about 30 percent of the line held. A DNR aircraft first marked it Oct. 9; investigators have not named a cause. Forty-one firefighters worked that ground Wednesday, and homes along North Basin Drive remain on the Ready alert status under the Ready, Set, Go protocol.
At the Craig Lake blaze north of the state park of the same name, flames cover about 604 acres with half the perimeter held. Officials tie the start to lightning in storms from Oct. 5 through Oct. 8 that smoldered before wind pushed it through dry fuels. Twenty-four firefighters were assigned there Wednesday.
To keep visitors clear, the DNR has shut the park north of Craig Lake itself, the Teddy Lake Yurt and the park stretch of the North Country Trail through October. The south side of the park stays open. Trail users are also barred from the Noquemanon path on the west side of the County Road 510 access point.
West of Marquette County, state crews assumed control of the Black River Fire near Wakefield once federal forest crews handed off the initial attack. That fire is near 382 acres with half contained in thick timber, and the cause is still open. Earlier Wednesday the Ridge Fire containment figure had been closer to 20 percent before crews advanced the line.
Aviation rules bar civilian planes and drones inside a five-nautical-mile ring below 3,500 feet over the Ridge and Craig Lake fires because drones force aerial tankers to stand down. A 21-person DNR incident team is running the Marquette-area fires together.
