Crawford County wildfire under control, investigation starts

Officials say the wildfire near Grayling, Michigan has been contained after burning 817 acres.

From the Associated Press:

Crawford County officials released the updated acreage total Wednesday morning. They say the fire damaged several buildings and caused one minor injury.

About 100 homes were evacuated. That order has been lifted and an evacuation center was closed.

Crews are attending to remaining hot spots and making sure the perimeter line is holding.

Howes Lake Road remains closed to traffic except for fire and emergency vehicles. Only local residents are being allowed on Manistee River Road.

Booth MidMichigan reports that Jeff Pendergraff, Crawford County Undersheriff, said conditions were ideal for a wildfire yesterday:

"It was hot, humid and high winds. Two bad things made it worse: it hit the jack pines and the wind picked up. But then it moved into a hardwood forest and slowed down."

Fire crews contained the blaze around midnight last night. The state is monitoring the area today:

"We are working at the holding the fire line today," said Mary Detloff, spokeswoman for the DNR. "We're a little concerned about the weather; it's supposed to be hot and gusty and we don't want the fire jumping lines and spreading to a new area."

An investigation into how the fire got started is beginning today.