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Grayling Fire Contained Still Putting Out Hot Spots
Posted: 04.24.2008 at 5:37 PM
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South end of Grayling  / John Simpson, Beaver Creek
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Updated 5:02 p.m. Friday Afternoon:

Fire officials tell 7&4 News that the Grayling fire has been contained and that firefighters are now putting out hot spots.  Firefighters have gathered a more accurate assessment of the fires size by using GPS tracking.  The new estimate is 1,275 acres

Larry Akers from Crawford County Emergency Management post the following statement on the 7&4 News website:

Good Morning to all. Here's an update on the 4 Mile Rd Forest Fire. DNR estimates 1100 acres burned and another 33 acres near Staley Lake Rd. The fire located east of Frederic was less than an acre. DNR crews monitored the fires throughout the night and will be back in full force this morning to begin the containment and clean up. We received a little rain during the night. All roads were open shortly before midnight. Power was restored around 3 am. Residents are being allowed to return to their homes. The only structures reported damage were the six reported in the Grayling Game Club just south of the Ramada Inn.

— Larry Akers, Crawford County Emergency Management

 

The massive wildfire shut down a Northern Michigan interstate, forced residents out of their homes, and had fire crews scrambling into early Friday morning.

Officials are reporting that the fire is contained at this time, while crews continue to battle hot spots.

I-75 has been re-opened late Thursday evening.  

Officials report six structures in the Grayling Game Club sustained damage.

The fire, which was spotted just after three Thursday afternoon, originally began as several individual fires but quickly spread into an enormous blaze bringing in fire crews from all over the viewing area.

Fire officials report that the wildfire has burned 1100 acres of land so far.

Close to 50 homes were evacuated Thursday afternoon, and major roads leading both in and out of Grayling were temporarily closed.

DNR crews in an airplane first spotted the fire along 4 Mile Road East of I-75, and they say it wasn't a surprise considering the high fire danger.

The evacuation site was at the United Methodist Church in Grayling.  Residents began returning home early Friday morning.

 crawford wildfire 2

This photo was taken around 4pm from Pioneer Hill, southeast of the fire by Teri Dougherty.

Crawford Wildfire This picture was taken looking north from Pioneer Hill in Roscommon County about 4:45p.m. April 24, 2008 by Laurie Smith Tudor 
 Crawford wildfire 4 Picture taken near the south end of Grayling by John Simpson of Beaver Creek
Crawford Wildfire 7 

These three photos (Left and Below) were taken by Steve Jackson of Grayling from the north end of the city of Grayling.  The residential pictures are from about 2 miles NE of Grayling.

Crawford wildfire 6  Crawford wildfire 5
crawford wildfire 8 
Paramedic Terry Ragaller took these photos (Left, and Below) from the Ramada parking lot from his ambulance.  He wrote "The people of Grayling owe ALOT to those firemen who fought off that fire, it could have been terrible."
crawford wildfire 9 crawford wildfire 10 
 Grayling Fire 1These two photos (left and below) were taken by Jennie Hubbard near downtown Grayling at around 3:30 Thursday afternoon.
Grayling Fire Fri 2 
Barry Fisher Left photo courtesy Barry Fisher

These three shots (Right and Below) were taken Thursday afternoon by Robin Colwell.

Mark Saxton 1 
Mark Saxton 2 Mark Saxton 3