By Elizabeth Lowe
Staff writer

Large-scale fires like those seen this week in California seem foreign to Michigan soil, but similar fires can happen here, says Ron Wilson, of the the Forest, Mineral, and Fire Management Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
More than 700,000 acres of wildfires were suppressed by exhausted California and other crews this week. Former Ortonville resident Mark Flath is still smelling smoke.
Although Flath’s Agua Dulce, Calif. home is situated at a safe distance from the fire areas, he hasn’t been untouched by the flaming disaster.
“The fires were really hard on everybody,” Flath said. “There was so much smoke all over southern California, you couldn’t help breathing it. It was pretty intense.”
His original image of giant plumes of smoke in the sky was replaced by round-the-clock broadcasts of the fires.
“For five days there was nothing but news about the fire. We were just glued to the TV. When we’d go to bed at 11 or 12 we were wondering how many people would lose their homes that night.”
Downtown Los Angeles became as dark as night at 2 p.m., said Flath, who took an evacuated co-worker into his home.
“People were driving around with their headlights on,” he said.
Due to Michigan’s higher moisture levels, residents doubt it could happen here. Wilson disagrees.
“In 1980 in the (Crawford County)Stephan Bridge fire, we lost 76 homes and 125 other structures in a fire that burned just under 6,000 acres.”
Large fires in Michigan normally occur in the spring months, said Wilson, but fall is the perfect time to consider landscape modifications that affect fire management.
Wilson is involved in Firewise Community, a national program that teaches landowners to protect their property from fire.
Crawford County has been targeted as a Firewise Community project. Generally, communities are encouraged to become fire-safe through volunteer participation, although enforceable landscaping codes are not out of the question, said Wilson.
Pine trees should be planted away from homes, as they are more flammable than decidous trees. Leaves, brush, and tall grass are also a hazard.
Southern Michigan communities should issue burn permits on a daily basis according to daily weather conditions, said Wilson, as trash fires are responsible for 35 to 40 percent of fires.
Groveland Township firefighters faced difficulty in suppressing a 10-acre fire last April in the 7,800-acre Holly Recreation Area. Although the fire did not spread at the rate of the California fires, it was “tough to get confined,” said Groveland Township Fire Chief Steve McGee.
McGee feels Michigan terrain and road geography is more receptive to fire regulation. Still, he acknowledges trekking into state land on foot carrying 45-pound water packs was a deterrent to controlling the blaze.
Although many homes in the area border state land, a minimum 50-foot-yard around houses helps keep fires at bay, said McGee.