Most Of Michigan At ‘High To Very High’ Risk Of Wildfires

After an April that saw extreme flooding from near-daily rainfall, May has been far less extreme. While it has certainly been a far more average month, the lack of rain has presented a new issue: wildfire. Despite how green it looks outside here in West Michigan, it's a different story for much of Michigan.

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Much of Lower Michigan ranges from Medium to High risk, while all of Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula is in the Very High to Extreme range. Usually, when this is the case, it's because of drought; however, none of Michigan is in a drought. So what is the cause? Last year's catastrophic ice storm. 

Michigan DNR Issues Fire Danger Warning

Over on the r/Michigan subreddit, the Michigan DNR posted a warning about rising fire danger across the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula. As a result of many of the trees that were knocked down during last year’s catastrophic ice storm, those trees have dried up and now pose a major fire risk.

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If any of those dead trees were to catch on fire, it could be a disaster. For this reason, the DNR is NOT issuing burn permits for the UP and the northern Lower Peninsula.

Last November, in an attempt to try cleaning up a portion of the millions of trees that were destroyed, the Michigan DNR invited people to come harvest the downed trees for a low cost. This was also to prep for the inevitability of this fire danger.