Why Did a Michigan Lake Look Like It Was Burning?

One of Michigan's largest lakes looked to be on fire, and some residents thought Canada was burning. Find out what was on fire here.

Water Doesn't Burn or Does it?

It takes a lot to catch water on fire. I'm glad we don't get that often, because to get water on fire, it has to contain items that do not belong in it to burn, which isn't good for the environment.

👇BELOW: 10 Facts About Michigan's Upper Peninsula You Probably Didn't Know👇

You may have seen water appear to be on fire when, in fact, it's an oil slick burning in the ocean. Sometimes, an oil slick is set on fire in a controlled burn to clean up the oil spill.

In 1969, Michigan's River Rouge suffered a major oil spill and caught fire when a construction worker accidentally dropped a torch in the river. Over 50 years later, the river recovered, but 100 years before the fire, it suffered pollution from factories around Detroit.

Read More: West Michigan Sees First Outbreak of Measles Cases

What Michigan Lake Looked Like It Was Burning?

Over the weekend, several people in the Detroit area commented on the Michigan Reddit page about seeing smoke on Lake St. Clair. Since no oil slick or ship was burning and being reported on the news, many wondered what was burning.

Quickly, this poster came out with an answer that seemed dead on.

We have a location, but I wondered what started the fire?

I thought it, but didn't want to say it out loud.

Sadly, some posters did think America attacked Canada.

I had to go to the Detroit Reddit page to find out what was burning.

Get our free mobile app

From all the angles of the pictures taken, the water looked like it was burning or even Canada. Luckily, it was a marsh fire on Squirrel Island, and no one was hurt.