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Careless smelting causing repeated fires, puts residential areas at risk

Photo courtesy of Rick Olson The Lac La Belle Volunteer Fire Department has been dispatched to fires that were the result of careless smelt dippers fishing along streams in Grant Township. Fire Chief Rick Olson is asking that people please be responsible with fires, and to take extra care when extinguishing them, and not leave the site and abandon a lit fire.

SHERMAN TOWNSHIP — Rick Olson, Lac La Belle Volunteer Fire Department chief, on Monday said his department has responded to a number of fires that could have been prevented through more careful attention by people smelt fishing along rivers.

On April 30, his department was dispatched to a grass fire at the Little Gratiot River, on the Gay/Lac La Belle Road, said Olson. The spot is a popular smelt dipping location, he said.

While the fire was extinguished by citizens before the department’s arrival, Olson said firefighters raked and put another 500 gallons or water on the area to ensure there were no lingering embers.

Three days later, on May 2, an unattended fire was discovered by a department firefighter, who reported the discovery. The department responded and extinguished the fire before it became an issue as a result of the high winds on Saturday.

“This irresponsible behavior could easily cause a bigger fire that not be able to be put out prior to reaching residential areas not that far away,” said Olson. “The heavily wooded area next to the Gratiot River and Jackson Park is very dense, and basically not accessible, so if a fire spreads and starts that area on fire, it will be a very big problem.”

Olson said the the Lac La Belle VFD would like to ask the people who are visiting the area for smelting to be more responsible and take extra care with fires by ensuring they are completely doused by dumping lots of water on the spot, turning the fire area over with a shovel, then repeating the steps. Fires should also be lit and maintained within a fire circle, and not be built to burn high enough to reach overhead tree limbs, or to reach surrounding ground cover. And fires should never be left unattended.

“You should also be aware,” Olson cautions, “that if your fire gets out of hand, you may be held accountable for the damage it causes.”

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