The Great Seney Fire: A History of the Walsh Ditch Fire of 1976 Paperback – March 7, 2023

By the middle of the summer of 1976, wildfire danger was mounting significantly in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and a record-setting drought was setting in. A lightning strike ignited a small fire within a federally designated wilderness area in the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in late July. Unclear policies and inaction allowed the fire to grow to 1200 acres two weeks before the initial attack was made. Soon after, the fire “blew up” and spread out of the wilderness, off the refuge onto State and private land. An interagency force of 1,200 firefighters contained it at over 72,500 acres; deep winter snows finally controlled it. These unique events made it the most destructive and costly fire in Michigan since 1908. Read more