Wildfire — Baraga, Michigan

2024-10-18 to 2024-10-31 · Baraga, Michigan

Event narrative

An abnormally and record dry September into the first half of October with precipitation deficits of more than 3 inches led to the ignition of the Summit Lake Wildfire which was discovered on the evening of October 18th in the northwest corner of the McCormick Wilderness between Summit Lake and Evergreen Lake. The McCormick Wilderness is located in Baraga County, 12.5 miles north of Michigamme, MI. The wildfire grew rapidly from 5 acres on the morning of the 19th to 100 acres on the morning of the 20th. Difficult access for firefighters combined with an abundant mix of hardwood and conifer trees for fuel allowed the wildfire to expand over 300 acres by the 27th before a combination of snow and rain on the 31st led to its eventual containment by early November. Through the efforts of Ottawa National Forest personnel and resources, a Michigan Interagency Type III Incident Management Team and aircraft personnel and resources the cost of fighting the wildfire was estimated at $1.3 million. Additional wildfires across the U.P. through the month of October resulted in about $750,000 in damages.

Wider weather episode

An abnormally and record dry September into the first half of October led to the ignition of the Summit Lake Wildfire which was discovered on the evening of October 18th in the northwest corner of the McCormick Wilderness between Summit Lake and Evergreen Lake. The McCormick Wilderness is located in Baraga County, 12.5 miles north of Michigamme, MI. The wildfire grew rapidly from 5 acres on the morning of the 19th to 100 acres on the morning of the 20th. Difficult access for firefighters combined with an abundant mix of hardwood and conifer trees for fuel allowed the wildfire to expand to over 300 acres by the 27th before a combination of snow and rain on the 31st led to its eventual containment by early November. Dozens of additional wildfires during the very warm and dry October burned over 200 acres across the U.P. Some of the additional larger fires were the Fox Fire in northern Schoolcraft County which burned 62 acres and one structure, the Section 27 North Fire in Marquette County which burned over 28 acres, and the Round Lake Fire in Alger County that burned nearly 15 acres.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1219785. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.