As warmer weather advances in on the region, many people are focused on getting outdoors. However, fire season has arrived along with those warmer, drier conditions, and Michigan Department of Natural Resources firefighters are preparing for the upcoming season using a variety of methods and equipment.

Keith Murphy, DNR fire management specialist, recently explained ways the DNR handles fire outbreaks in the region at the agency’s Incident Coordination Center in Harvey.

For example, an Upper Peninsula Fire Dispatch map is located in the ICC, a tool the DNR uses to handle firefighting strategies.

“We call it the puzzle palace because we just move puzzle pieces around here,” Murphy said.

Each magnet, he noted, represents a piece of equipment, with red magnets representing fires. Also, staffing sheets are received daily from the fire supervisors at each unit, which is noted on the map. When staff gets called to a fire downstate, for example, resources have to be shifted from places without fires.

“Just looking from here, there’s nothing but two pieces of equipment in Seney for the entire east U.P.,” Murphy said. “Then we’ll start moving.”

That’s when the map comes in handy.

“It’s pretty simple, but when you stand back and look at it, you can see your gaps right away,” Murphy said.

Pre-determined response plans are in place for high-hazardous sites such as jack pine fields and wildland interface, such as K.I. Sawyer and Gwinn, Murphy said.

“If a fire would drop in there, we’d call a zone dispatch for the Sands Plains, and then all kinds of equipment comes in from surrounding area,” Murphy said. “We don’t have to have start calling people to get them there. They automatically respond.”

Murphy said the agency tries to perform advanced training in the winter, with equipment getting readied in February in March.

“Dependent on the snow loads, we try and have everything ready by March 15 because they could go anywhere in the state,” he said. “If it’s a normal year, the southern Lower (Peninsula) melts faster and quicker, sooner, so then we’ll shift our resources down there and do a bunch of scrap burning.”

Usually each March, staff trains in required duties such as radio communications and fire-shelter training, with watch-out situations and standard fire orders developed from problem fires examined each year, he said.

We’re glad to see the DNR and its staff preparing so well for the season up ahead, as these activities can save lives, structures and lands in our region when wildland fires burn. But beyond the DNR’s preparations, we encourage individuals to do their part in wildfire prevention during these warm, dry months. For example, before any burning, people should visit Michigan.gov/BurnPermit to assess conditions and get fire safety tips at Michigan.gov/PreventWildfires.

Taking these simple steps to prevent wildfires can keep our lives, structures and lands safe and we hope all readers take them to heart, as fire prevention can truly be a life-or-death matter.