Little Mack Lake Fire Update
Incident: Little Mack Lake Fire Wildfire
Released: 4/27/2012
LITTLE MACK LAKE FIRE UPDATE
April 27, 2012
Kollmeyer's Eastern Area Type 2 Incident Management Team
Bob MacGregor, Public Information Officer; Phone (603)568-9893
Carol Nilsson, Huron-Manistee National Forest; Phone (231)878-3802
Carrie Scott, Huron-Manistee National Forest; Phone (989)390-8611
Date Started: April 25, 2012 Total Personnel: 80
Cause: Human, Under Investigation Residences: 50 Threatened, 0 Destroyed
Size: 1,500 Acres (estimated) Percent Contained: 100%
Resources: 5 Engines, 5 Dozers, 1 Helicopter, Injuries to Date: 0
1 Hotshot Crew and a Type 2 Incident Management
Team
LOCATION:
The fire is located in Mentor Township in Oscoda County. Local references place it north of County Highway 604, west and northwest of Mack Lake, east of Michigan Highway M-33 and south of Weeks Road. The majority of the burned area is on the Huron-Manistee National Forest but some private ΒΌ sections of land are involved. The fire has burned across a power line and a section of Eggleston Road.
OVERVIEW:
Yesterday's Actions: Firefighters were able to declare the fire 100% contained on Thursday morning. 100% containment means that there is a fire line around the entire perimeter of the burned area but there may still be flames and hotspots within the line. Personnel continued to monitor fire activity until midnight and found fire behavior very "quiet". Fire Behavior Specialist Bob "Zeke" Ziel called this a very "dirty" fire, meaning there is a lot of unburned material within the fire line and with the right weather conditions the fire still has the potential to start moving again. The weather Thursday, including light precipitation and low cloud cover, aided firefighters by suppressing fire behavior. Paul Kollmeyer and his Eastern Area Incident Management Team took over supervision of firefighting activities beginning Thursday night. An Incident Management Team consists of Federal, State and local specialists who use the Incident Command System (ICS) to suppress a large fire.
Today's Forecast: A very dry air mass has moved over Michigan on Friday. Relative humidity is forecast to bottom out at 12%, which is extremely dry for this part of the Country. Fortunately the wind will not be as strong as the previous few days with predictions calling for northwest winds at 5 to 9 mph with gusts up to 15-20 mph. The skies should be sunny with temperatures topping out at 50 degrees, a high of 50 degrees will not encourage fire growth but if it exceeds predictions and gets into the 60's it may support some flare-ups. Active fire behavior is expected due to the low humidity and dry fuels.
Today's Operations: Crews will be mopping up hot-spots 50 feet in from the fire line around the entire perimeter of the burn. Water from the engines and the plowing ability of the dozers will be at their disposal and a helicopter with water-dropping capabilities is also available. If a new fire start begins outside of the Little Mack Lake perimeter these resources are available for initial attack to help quickly suppress it. As always our primary objective is providing for firefighter and public safety.
Evacuations and Closures: The evacuation of the Mack Lake subdivision will continue for Friday, it is expected that residents will be able to go back into their homes on Friday evening if no unexpected fire behavior occurs.
