His buildings caught fire and house, barns and windmill were lost. He believed one must grind when the wind is favorable, so stuck to his task to the last. There were many farms there, as well as the hamlet of Hagensville, all in the path of the oncoming fire. The woods of a nearby farmer to the south were set afire in a backfire operation to reduce the impact of the inferno coming from the southwest, and so protect the church and surrounding countryside.
All farms in the county had large woodlands that were usually connected with others, thus giving fire a continuous pathway. The backfiring helped as the nearest tinder had been burned in a smaller fire.
The main fire snaked its way swiftly along to the south of the area, having been cheated of some of its prey. It went in the direction of Hagensville, then on to Rogers and Pulawski townships, and thence to Lake Huron.
When the Village of Metz vanished into oblivion, all that remained were ashes, charred ruins and smoking rubble. The only building still standing was St. Additionally, the stone steps from the Lutheran church were visible, marking where St. By and large, the village liberty pole survived the fire as well, although the halliards were burned off. The cocky weathervane at the top of the pole remained in working order pointing out wind direction for whoever had a need to know.
The losses in the Metz fire were not as extensive as those in the and fires. A total of 83 families were burned out and perhaps 1, people proved to be either homeless or in dire need of food, supplies or money. While survivors searched the nearby woods and farmland for corpses, many townsmen felt that unknown fatalities may have also occurred in deeper forests at isolated logging camps.
After the calamity the Metz survivors wandered aimlessly about the charred and smoking ruin. In a matter of hours they had lost their homes, farms, implements, timber, fences, food, stock and clothing. What food was not destroyed was sufficient for only a few days.
Lumber was scarce; tools and cooking utensils, even more scarce. The remaining horses and cattle needed hay and grain. Relief came from all over the state. Cities in southern Michigan sent carloads of supplies-food, clothing, stoves, furniture, blankets, hay, lumber and money. The contributions were gathered at Alpena and transported by the Detroit and Mackinac Railway to Metz for distribution. Although this great disaster in Presque Isle County was named after the town and township of Metz, which bore the brunt of it, it also raged over a vast area covering a great deal of northeastern Michigan, and in the end, was stopped only at the shore of mighty Lake Huron.
Estimates at a later date, figured these fires destroyed about 2. A look back, from More than seventy years have gone by since the tragic time of the Metz fire.
A Michigan historic site marker telling about it now stands on the Metz Town Hall grounds. Here, before the fire, stood the schoolhouse. The Lutheran Church, which burned with the rest of the town, was rebuilt, but the old Metz never returned.
In , crews removed the last railroad tracks from the old Detroit and Mackinac Railroad line through town, creating a recreational trail for snowmobiles and bicycles. The only business still operating here is the Metz Lounge, in a former hotel that was among the first structures rebuilt after the big fire.
The building's exterior has lost a bit of siding over the years. But inside it's a friendly hometown tavern, with an ornate tin ceiling, a pool table and a limited menu that includes huge hamburgers favored by hunters and snowmobilers. Never big, it did have business enough for two saloons in its heyday. Now, though the name lingers on, it is a town without inhabitants. Hagensville, too, is gone. Now the name is used to designate the intersection of Highways and , as well as the surrounding area.
Only the side tracks remain. Coming so close, the two fires awakened public interest and stimulated forest fire control. Located on the sunrise side of the state, the twin towns of Au Sable and Oscoda, like siblings vying to outdo one another, both grew at a rapid pace prior to the disastrous fire that literally wiped Au Sable off the map. The dates was July 11, The Au Sable-Oscoda fire of delivered the fatal punch to the fast-waning lumbering era in northeast lower Michigan.
Many industries simply did not or could not afford to rebuild. Oscoda received far less damage from the fire than her sister city, Au Sable, but neither town rebuilt to its former stature after the fires. Of the two communities, Au Sable was the larger. Located at the mouth of the mighty Au Sable River, the city had a population of 10, residents.
Prior to the "big burn", Au Sable contained six sawmills, a sash and blind factory, three stores, three hotels, three churches and a bank.
Additionally, the Au Sable River Boom Company was in the business of sorting and corralling logs floated down the river by the various lumber companies. Never reputed to be as prosperous as Saginaw, Au Sable and Oscoda nonetheless had had their day.
When the lumber industry was at its peak, from the s through the early 's, the towns were already looking backward rather than forward to their glory.
Harnessing of the Au Sable River for hydroelectric power was just beginning and Cooke Dam, the first of six installations on the river, was to open a new era in the history of Northeastern Michigan when it began generating electricity on February 9, During the month of October the time of the Metz fires--a clergyman, Bishop Williams, made his annual visit to the churches and missions in the counties of Presque Isle, Alpena and Cheboygan.
In a letter he mailed to Detroit, Bishop Williams presciently described these sister cities three years before their demise:. The two names stand for a shriveled, wizened, little town, formerly of ten thousand, now about two thousand, consisting of flimsy houses built of kindling wood on heaps of sawdust and sand.
This is the style of most of the villages in this part of Michigan. The atmosphere was very dense with smoke. It parched your throat and bit into your eyes.
If ever the fire should catch in that town, it would be burned up in five minutes, like Metz. No insurance company will take a risk here, yet the people seemed careless and confident. There were no cement sidewalkswood chips and sawdust basically made up the bulk of roads and walkways. No one looked ahead and pictured these sawdust trails as prime fodder for run-away flames licking up dry tinder.
How did this fire, considered by many to be the last spectacular blaze of that century, start? As with the Metz and "Thumb" fires, the summer season was extremely dry and hot. Newspaper accounts and weather statistics indicate that the week of the fire, the Oscoda-Au Sable area was parched earth with numerous fires reported-in Alpena, Waters, Alger, Turner, Boyne City, parts of Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties, and other small fires in as many as ten northern Michigan counties.
Old smoldering stumps caused smoke in the western sky. Summary Of The Fire Situation In Michigan With three people know dead, scores missing who may have perished, two towns wiped off the map and nearly a dozen others reported either destroyed or greatly damaged, Michigan is facing the worst forest fire situation the state has ever seen. Northwest winds, said to be the worst possible for a situation of this kind, were blowing down over the burned and burning districts of the northern portion of the lower peninsula, spreading fires in almost every direction.
There is no rain in sight. Weather men say that a long and hot spell is all the state can expect for several days. Without rain there is certain to be a much larger loss of property than at present. In nearly every portion of the area affected, families and men from lumber camps are reported missing or cut off from the outside world. Trains are held up by walls of flame and ruined bridges. For days, a forest fire was known to have been slowly advancing toward Au Sable, hovering just outside the city limits, but the local populace paid little heed to the blaze, figuring they personally had little to fear and were not in immediate danger.
But they were wrong. The winds picked up speed on the morning of July 11 th , at a reported rate of some 50 mph. The fanned flames turned this comparatively small forest fire into a disastrous inferno.
At the very same time the town began to burn, a passing train deposited sparks along the right-of-way one mile west of Oscoda, igniting the dry, tinder-like grass and weeds. The fire had enveloped to Au Sable and the Northwestern Railway freight office, where a large keg of gasoline burst, spreading flames in all directions.
Finally realizing the danger, sawmills in the towns were shut down and the men began to fight the fire Most of the men quickly ran home to look after families and possessions. The sweeping winds carried the flames, which quickly gained momentum until, within mere moments, the fire raced across the Au Sable River valley, leaving three-fourths of the town of Oscoda smoldering in its wake.
At this point, the twin fires joined forces and destroyed both towns. Within a scant two hours, just 20 houses were left standing in Oscoda, while only 4 buildings remained in the main section of Au Sable.
People fled for their lives as tongues of flame virtually licked at their heels; docks were set afire hampering the efforts of relief vessels; trains pulled out of town through walls of searing flame. There was little opportunity or time to salvage personal possessions.
By some accounts the off shore winds ranged between 40 and 60 mph. Many had fled the fire in Oscoda by crossing the river. By pm,as the fire appeared to be dying down, fresh winds out of the north forced the fire to cross the river and sweep into Au Sable, firing the big Loud mill and from there to the balance of the city. The town was leveled in a matter of minutes, Flames shot 60 feet in the air; buildings appeared to explode and crumble, rather than burn. The fire burned so rapidly and fiercely that few realized the actual danger until they were forced to flee for their lives.
Practically without food, clothing or shelter, the night was spent on the beach, on the sand plains or anywhere that safety could be felt.
The ultimate death toll was never officially determined, but it is believed to have been For many individuals, the sand dunes along Lake Huron offered the only surviving lifeline. Others were rescued by boats until the very docks the fire victims were standing on caught fire. Trains managed to remove many people to safer surroundings, such as Tawas City to the south and Alpena to the north.
But generally speaking, the majority of the population from these two affected towns were forced to wade out into the waters of Lake Huron or the Au Sable River, where blazing sparks and bits of burning wood and embers rained down on them. Where they once stood there is nothing. Because of the confusion attending the rounding up of the refugees and the compiling of list of the residents, there is no way of telling how many people lost their lives.
Three bodies have been found. Scores are missing and all or part of the them may have perished. The destruction is as complete as was that of Sodom and Gomorra. Destruction more absolute than that of the twin cities of the Au Sable can not be imagined.
Where stood handsome homes, churches, stores and mills, as well as in the humble sections of the city, there is nothing but ashes, bits of twisted iron and an occasional stone foundation.
The image below shows the Oscoda Bank, after the fire. McGillvray, secretary of the executive committee, said this morning: "Oscoda and Au Sable will be rebuilt as one town and placed under one government. The loss of life and property loss of residents are the only things to regret. The city will be built up clean, with modern construction and material. All the uncouth, unsightly shacks and ruins are gone. We have nearly houses, unharmed. We have two modern school buildings.
Every industry the towns had before the fire, it will have again! Defensible spaces also provide firefighters and emergency officials with access to safer defense points should a fire occur. Design your defensible space by mentally drawing three concentric circles around important structures such as your home, barn, and outbuildings. The inner foot circle is the most critical to manage. Plan for this area to have the highest water use, and keep these plants green throughout the fire season.
Talk to your local extension office or conservation district staff for help with choosing landscaping plants and materials that are well-suited for your region and not considered highly flammable. Between 30 and 60 feet out from buildings you can add slightly taller drought-tolerant shrubs and plants. Plants with high salt or soap content and low oil or resin content are the least flammable. From 60 to feet out from buildings, you can include trees.
Deciduous trees are generally more fire-resistant than evergreens because they have a higher moisture content when in leaf, and they have a lower fuel volume when dormant. Avoid junipers and pines, both of which are highly flammable. In the outer two zones remove deadwood and trim vegetation in the spring to reduce size. Incorporate rock mulches, patios, boulders, riprap, dry streambeds, and sculptural inorganic elements into your landscaping plan as fuel breaks, as well as masonry and rock planters.
Driveways, walkways, patios, parking areas, and fences constructed of nonflammable materials such as rock, brick, or cement also reduce fuel loads, as do water features, pools, ponds, or streams. Be creative, keeping in mind that less is more. When planning for new outbuildings, place them as far apart as is reasonably possible—at least 30 feet is best—to create a fuel break between them. When feasible, build barns, shelters, and other structures on flat land rather than hilltops or in draws low areas between parallel ridges.
During a fire these areas act as chimneys, pulling hot air and flames rapidly up hillsides. Once at the top, these intense flames will consume anything combustible. Choose nonflammable building materials such as metal sidings and roofs for barns and shelters.
The most firesafe fencing is wire or panel with nonflammable posts. A wood fenceline can act like a wick, leading a fire right up to a barn or shed. If you already have this type of fencing in place, you can install a gate or removable panel that you can leave open or take out during fire threats. Be aware that plastic fencing will melt and is not a good firewise choice.
In the spring or before fire season begins, inspect your property for potential flammables. One of simplest things you can do is clean gutters and downspouts; remove leaves, branches, and other debris where embers could possibly land and ignite.
Clear weeds or dead brush accumulations from along fencelines and around building corners and walls. During fire season water vegetation within feet of buildings and keep them mowed low or grazed down. Use grazing goats or other livestock to reduce cheatgrass or other weeds in fields or behind barns. You can also remove weeds in these larger areas with mowing, prescribed burning, or herbicide application.
Remove as many flammable outdoor items on your property as possible; examples include anything that might catch an ember and ignite, such as wood patio furniture, brooms, flowerboxes, or flammable doormats. Replace them with nonflammable materials such as wrought-iron patio furniture and the cement or stone planters described.
Store hay, shavings, firewood, trash, lumber, and empty feed sacks at least 30 feet away from buildings and other combustibles. If a wildfire does break out in your area, decide early on if you need to leave. Late evacuation is a deadly option, risking human and animal lives. If you are unprepared or wait until the last minute to evacuate, emergency officials might tell you to leave your horses behind. On Friday, a special team of incident managers took over leadership of the Delta Lake effort.
At that time, there were 13 firefighters, three fire engines, and various aircraft working on the Delta Lake Fire. Firefighters on the ground were using chainsaws to cut a firebreak along the southern edge of the fire, as well as putting out spot fires ignited by embers outside the main zone. They had to first cut access, escape routes, and helipads in the blowdown before they could safely engage the fire. Additional firefighters, engines, aircraft and other resources were being requested from around the country, but the Forest Service reports national personnel and equipment shortages are making it difficult to secure reinforcements.
On July 9 the Forest Service took steps to keep visitors safe and prevent more fires. The agency announced a Forest-wide campfire ban, except in approved structures in some campgrounds, and closed a swath of the wilderness east of the Delta Fire to all visitors.
The closed area was not actively burning, but is in the area where firefighters believe the fire could expand if conditions allow and the blaze runs with the wind. The closure essentially includes the entire Kekekabic Hiking Trail. The extensive closure is also a precaution because of the limited resources available to suppress the fire.
This year has already been active for wildfires in northern Minnesota — mirroring the early, intense fire season in the western U. Ultimately burning almost acres, it also destroyed four private structures outside the wilderness. The Boundary Waters region has a slight chance of light precipitation over the next week, but nothing significant.
Fire conditions are expected to remain risky. Fire has long been a part of the Boundary Waters ecosystem and is important for healthy forests and the primordial scenery sought by visitors. Regular fire can prevent the build-up of dead wood that fuels ferocious fires. Iconic tree species like jackpine require fire to reproduce. In addition to lightning-caused fires, recent research has revealed that humans have been intentionally setting fires in parts of what is now the Boundary Waters for centuries, if not longer.
The Forest Service and other land managers continue to conduct prescribed burns on the Superior National Forest, but rarely in the Boundary Waters. While the major fires currently burning were all believed to be started by lightning, across the country, nine out of 10 wildfires are ignited by people. Quetico closes parts of park as wildfires grow.
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