Brush fire chars North End field

By DAN SCHNEIDER, DMG Writer
CENTENNIAL — Firefighters fought a grass fire kindled Wednesday afternoon when wind pushed the flames of a burning brush pile into a surrounding field.

The fire took place on property owned by Calumet Township on No. 4 Road about a quarter mile east of U.S. Highway 41. Calumet Township Fire Department Chief Don Bausano said the fire call came at about 3:20 p.m.

“They had a controlled burn going until the wind picked up,” he said.

He said the Michigan Department of Natural Resources had issued a permit for burning the brush pile. The initial brush pile was about the size of a small house.

Wind kicked the flames eastward, burning over a power line corridor and igniting about five acres of brown field grass beyond it.

Firefighters from the Allouez Fire Department assisted Calumet Township for a total of about 24 firefighters. They shuttled water in from a hydrant next to the highway.

Bausano said it took about an hour to extinguish the flaming field.

Firefighters were still using foam to eliminate hot spots in the original brush pile at 5:15 p.m.

Bausano said foam was used to speed up the process.

The brush pile, consisting mainly of stumps and tree trunks, was situated in the middle of dump area ringed with bags of yard waste and other debris.

Calumet Township Supervisor Paul Lehto said the township uses the property to dump brush and tree debris, as well as yard waste from the township’s spring clean-ups.

“We get permits a couple times a year and we burn the stuff,” Lehto said.

He declined comment on the circumstances behind Wednesday’s burn.

He said the pile was about two years old.



Dan Schneider can be reached at dschneider@mininggazette.com