Karl Bohnak

Most U.P. wildfires occur in the spring before “green up.” But, sometimes after a dry summer, there’s a second wildfire season during late summer and fall. The Peshtigo Fire of 1871 is a tragic example of this second season. The most recent was Luce County’s “Sleeper Lake” fire in August 2007. Looking back, the most destructive U.P. second season fire occurred 126 years ago this week.

Ontonagon was an early copper mining boom town that found new life as a lumber center in the late 1800s. Diamond Match Company established their headquarters along the mouth of the Ontonagon River.

Tinder dry conditions led to scattered forest fires over western Upper Michigan during August 1896. As the month wore on, even swamps around Ontonagon dried out and caught fire. The afternoon of August 25, the Ontonagon lighthouse keeper wrote it was “hot and blowing a living gale.” A swamp fire southeast swept toward the Diamond Mill. The company’s workers tried putting out the flames, but to no avail. Eventually, large stacks of lumber caught fire. The flames jumped the river and a huge pile of sawdust ignited–now the town was doomed.

In just a few hours, 344 buildings burnt to the ground. Among them were four churches, a bank, three hotels, a dozen stores, thirteen saloons, two newspapers and the entire Diamond Match Company. Miraculously, only one person died, but some 2,000 residents became homeless.

Back to the present, we’ve received some much-needed rain and some more is possible, mainly late Sunday into Tuesday. It will be warm over the weekend into Monday and then cool off Tuesday.