List of Michigan wildfires


The U.S. state of Michigan has been the site of several major wildfires. The worst of these were in the lumbering era of the late 1800s, when lumbering practices permitted the buildup of large slash piles and altered forest growth patterns, which may have contributed to size of the wildfires. The scattered nature of settlements, lumber camps and Indian tribes during this time led to large uncertainties in determining the number of deaths and property losses. More recent fires have been much smaller and contained by modern firefighting methods, with better records of the destruction they caused. Almost all of the thousands of yearly fires in the state cover only a few acres, although 100-200 homes are damaged each year by these small fires.

Wildfires

This is a partial and incomplete list of wildfires in the US state of Michigan.
FireDateLocationSize Size DamageDeathsNotes
Great Michigan Fires1871 October 8multiple locationsover 1,500,000over 6,000thousandshundredsfires across Wisconsin, Michigan, and the cities of Holland, Manistee and [Great Great Chicago Fire|Chicago Fire|Chicago]
Port Huron Fire of 18711871 October 8The Thumb1,200,0004,850thousands50+same day as the Great Michigan fire
Peshtigo Fire1871 October 8Menominee County, Michiganhundreds of thousandshundredsthousandsdozenssame day as the Great Chicago fire
Thumb Fire1881 September 5The Thumb1,000,0004,000over 2,000 structures282
Ontonagon Fire1896 AugustOntonagon228,000923hundreds1
Ishpeming fire1896 OctoberIshpeming64,000259unknownunknown
Metz Fire1908 October 15Metz300,0001,200hundreds of structures3715 deaths occurred when the rescue train derailed in a burning lumber siding.
Au Sable-Oscoda Fire1911 July 11Iosco Countythousandsdozenshundreds5+Acreage burned unclear because of numerous fires burning the area that year
Seney Fire1976 August - OctoberSeney National Wildlife Refuge78,00031600burned for months underground in peat
Mack Lake fire1980 May 5Mio25,00010144 homes1
Meridian Boundary Fire2010 MayCrawford County8,58634.712 homes, 39 structures0Caused by a man burning leaves; the man had a permit to burn
Duck Lake fire2012 May–JuneLuce County21,00085136 structures0
Sleeper Lake Fire2007 AugustLuce County18,0007300
Horne Fire2021 AugustIsle Royale30000Primarily burned the area surrounding Monument Rock
Blue Lakes Fire2022 MayMontmorency, Cheboygan counties2,516>100This wildfire started from a lightning strike on May 11 which smoldered for several days before igniting nearby fuels.
Wilderness Trail Fire2023 JuneCrawford County2,44212.1$100,0000Caused by a campfire, 85% contained as of June 4