MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A large brush fire covering more than 10 acres took up a lot of resources in Muskegon County over the weekend. Fire officials say the threat is not over yet.
Muskegon Township firefighters say these brush fires will continue to happen and people in the area need to be more cautious.
“I hope everybody gets to see this and understands the dangers that they're in,” fire inspector Jack Wydeck said. "I imagine by the time that this airs today, we'll have another brush fire right here in Muskegon County.”
Sunday afternoon, Muskegon Charter Township Fire Department responded to a grass fire they thought they’d be able to contain. They quickly realized the extent of the fire and called for additional assistance, including the Department of Natural Resources.
Wydeck says it took crews several hours to get the fire under control.
“The brush fire that started yesterday, somebody was just out trying to clear up some land and because the wind was coming through together, the fire quickly got ahead of them and it was something beyond what they were capable of doing,” Wydeck said. "The property owner called 911 right away and got us out there but just because of the conditions of the environment and the way that the wind was going. The fire got pretty big pretty fast.”
Several factors, including dry conditions and wind, caused the fire to spread. Wydeck says people should be careful when burning fires to prevent them from spreading.
“We had a firefighter that was transported to a hospital yesterday with an ankle injury who's now off of work because of their efforts in fighting the fire,” Wydeck said. "As far as eliminating this, people just have to pay attention to what they're doing, they have to have some situational awareness of what's going on around them.”
Muskegon Township fire officials says the responsible party could be on the hook for the fire department and DNR’s response, along with heavy fines for burning.
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