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

Arizona Attacked by Wildfires

At least 4 major blazes consume 90 km² of central and eastern AZ forest, brush and chaparral

The Sunflower Fire, the largest of AZ blazes, has consumed 70km² in the Tonto National Forest, about 65km north of Phoenix, fire officials reported.

Up to 350 residents of Crown King in central Arizona remain under evacuation orders after a large blaze, the Gladiator Fire, consumed about 25 sq km of Prescott National Forest and destroyed a dozen structures.

See also:

• U.S. Wildfires – June 21 Update Posted on June 21, 2011
• Arizona Wildfires Update – June 19 Posted on June 19, 2011

Other Global Disasters, Significant Events

• Colorado. A wildfire northwest of Fort Collins, northern Colorado, has consumed about 1,200  acres and is fast growing. The fire was less than 5 percent contained, as of posting.
  • “Two groups of residents have received notices to be prepared for possible evacuations, but no one has had to leave. The fire is within a quarter mile of some homes,” a report said.
• The Rocky Mountains, USA. The white-nose bat syndrome, a disease that has killed at least 5.5 million hibernating bats in hundreds of colonies across 19 U.S. states is now spreading westward, the U.S. Forest Service reported.
  • The deadly disease was first detected in New York in 2006, the USGS reported.

• The Midwest, U.S.  The number of extreme rain events, rainstorms that dump at least 3 inches of rain in 24hrs, have doubled in the U.S. Midwest between 1961 and 2011, a report said.

• Manitoba, Canada. A large wildfire in Sandilands Provincial Park has consumed about 5,300 hectares of pine forest since the weekend and prompted the authorities in the RM of Piney to issue an evacuation order.

• South Carolina, USA.The second reported victim of necrotizing fasciitis bacteria, commonly known as the flesh-eating disease, is a 36-year-old mother from South Carolina.
  • Lana Kuykendall noticed a dark spot on the back of her left leg soon after giving birth to twins last week, AP reported.
  • Two weeks, a Georgia woman, was diagnosed with the same type of infection.
    • “Aimee Copeland, 24, of Gwinnett County was injured May 1 when she fell from a zip line into the Little Tallapoosa River. The fall onto rocks caused a deep gash in her leg,” a report said.
    • Miss Copeland lost a leg and could lose all her fingers from the infection which has since spread, doctors have said.

Necrotizing Fasciitis.  Much more commonly known as flesh-eating bacteria, necrotizing fasciitis is the bacterial infection of the underlying connective tissue, or fascia. It can be caused by streptococcous A, vibrio vulnificus, clostridium perfringens, and bacteroides fragilis, with strep A being the most common by far. These bacteria will often penetrate a deep wound, and can occur due to animal bites or swimming in unclean water. The symptoms will begin with itchiness that will proceed to discoloration, swelling and pain as the underlying tissue dies. Eventually the skin will blister out and ooze significant blood and pus. The infection spreads very rapidly. Source: Brown University.

• See also: “Flesh Eating Bacteria” Linked to NSAIDs

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