Wildfire Danger Still Very High in Some Spots

Last week’s wildfires have been contained for a while now.

And this week’s rain has dramatically lowered the fire risk for much of the region.

But there are still parts of the U.P. where wildfire danger is quite high.

The DNR’s U.P. fire incident command center is in Harvey.

People there say we’re not out of the woods until more rain makes the grass a bit greener, and needles on the jack pine become a bit more moist.

Duty officer Celeste Chingwa says the Keweenaw and the Baraga County area are especially tricky right now.

She says the rains much of the region has seen within the last week have almost completely missed those areas.

Fires can start in an instant, and anyone who plans to burn yard debris has to get a burn permit first.

The central U.P. seems to have been saturated enough by this week’s rain that the fire danger has gone way down.

And the eastern U.P. isn’t anywhere near as much at risk as the Keweenaw.

But there are still plenty of dry areas than can light up if an outdoor burn goes wrong.

Chingwa says you can call your nearest DNR field office, or the U.S. Forest Service, if you want to get a burn permit.