Crews work to protect structures in Mich. wildfire

NEWBERRY, Mich. - Crews worked Tuesday to ensure that no more structures were damaged by a wildfire burning across more than 30 square miles of Michigan's Upper Peninsula as high winds in the forecast threatened to test firefighting efforts, an official said.

The Department of Natural Resources said 97 structures have been destroyed, including 34 homes or cabins. The latest estimate Tuesday morning added two sheds or outbuildings to a total released a day earlier. No injuries have been reported.

Recent rain helped in firefighting efforts, DNR public information officer Ada Takacs, but high winds could fan the flames Wednesday.

"Our lines will be put to the test," she said.

Homes and cabins make up a third of the structures destroyed. The lost property includes Pike Lake Resort near Pike Lake in Luce County.

The DNR said the blaze, which officials are calling the Duck Lake Fire, began with a lightning strike last week and burned about 22,000 acres, or 34 square miles. The fire was estimated Tuesday at about 21,700 acres, the DNR said, down slightly from previous estimates because of updated GPS data.

As of Tuesday, the fire was about 47 percent contained, Takacs said.

Meanwhile, a wildfire in the Seney National Wildlife Refuge that burned more than 5 square miles was roughly 95 percent contained, officials said. Some crews left the area. Firefighters planned to patrol the perimeter of the fire looking for hot spots.

The 3,400-acre Pine Creek North wildfire in Schoolcraft County was ignited by lightning and first reported on May 21. It is west of the Duck Lake Fire. The Seney refuge covers about 95,000 acres. The fire is in the northeastern corner, a mixture of forests and bogs.

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