By Dan Urbanski on Sunday, October 22, 2000 - 04:13 pm:
As of late Saturday the fire had burned over 1000 acres in the Park's interior. I followed a crew of reinforcements to the northeast quadrant of the blaze, the "hottest" part. We chased the fire line over a long and steep hill and met another crew engaged in containing active flames from further advancement.
The fire is at surface, consuming fallen leaves and dry deadfalls. Only limited areas saw fire extending to the forest canopy on Friday. Most of the burned areas will likely not damage living trees. Hopefully, continued calm winds will keep the fire from doing much more serious damage. Of course, the threat to this wilderness won't cease until all the coals are out. Rain is not in the forecast, so everyone is nervous about the situation.
There were about sixty people working to contain the fire, from White Pine and Ontonagon to Crystal Falls, Baraga and Marquette. These folks were working very hard, since most of the work is done by hand with rakes and shovels intstead of bulldozers that are usually applied. This on top of long, tough walks to access the burning areas. The smoke, while not choking, was a constant irritation.
That's a fire resistant shirt, with a portable fire shelter on the belt, camera in hand. It was an experience of a lifetime, but I hope I never have such an interesting opportunity like this again.
Dan Urbanski
