State Of Disaster Declared in Michigan Counties

Fast-moving wildfire consumes 23,000 acres in Michigan

Luce and Schoolcraft counties in Upper Peninsula were declared disaster areas, while an outdoor burning ban was issued for 49 Michigan counties.

Many homes and several tourist destinations in Lake Superior State Forest have been evacuated in the region, as a fast moving wildfire called Duck Lake Fire consumes about 23,000 acres in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, destroying scores of structures including vacation homes.

“The whole sky is just smoke,” said Beverly Holmes, Newberry village manager, who was driving on a highway east of town, AP reported. “It’s like a heavy fog.”

The fire is threatening a resort in Pike Lake area.

A second blaze at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in neighboring Schoolcraft County, which was also sparked by lightning, had consumed about 4,000 acres of forest and wetland, as of posting.

Other Wildfires

• Florida, USA.   “A wildfire that is burning in Orlando blew heavy smoke near the busy hotel and attractions district of Walt Disney world at the start of the busy Memorial Day weekend,” a report said.
• New Mexico, USA.  The massive Whitewater-Baldy blaze ( Gila Wilderness blaze), which has destroyed more than 2 dozen cabins and outbuilding in the Willow Creek Subdivision, Gila National forest, has grown to about 90,000 acres.
  • The nearby town of Mogollon is under a voluntary evacuation.
  • The two blazes, which merged forming the giant Gila Wilderness fire, were ignited buy lightning
• Utah, USA.  Lightning also sparked a  large blaze near Great Salt Lake, Utah, which has consumed about 4,000 acres.
• Nevada, USA.  Fire is still raging south of Carson City. The Topaz Ranch Estates wildfire has so far consumed about 35km²  of brush, destroying two dozen homes and outbuildings.
• Arizona, USA.  The so-called Gladiator Fire, currently Arizona’s largest wildfire, is still raging in the Grand Canyon. The massive blaze has so far consumed about 70km²  of ponderosa pine and brush some 65km north of Phoenix. The fire prompted evacuations last week.

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar