Random Ramblings: Aerial Wildland Firefighting

I have blogged about aerial wildland firefighting since 2009. I am not a firefighter and am not a pilot, just an interested bystander who wants to learn more and share what I learn here. Join me here as I blog on the aircraft and the pilots who fight wildland fires from the air in support of crews on the ground. I also blog on concerns affecting fire crews on the ground as well as other aviation and meteorology issues. Learn what it takes to do jobs that are staffed by the best of the best.

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Michigan fires of late 19th and early 20th centuries: Introduction

I wrote a post yesterday on the research I have been doing on fires the burned in Michigan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today I write an introduction and preliminary timeline for this series of articles.

I learned a little more about the Michigan Fires of the late 19th and early 20th century was reading Stephen Pyne’s chapter on “Sky of Brass, Earth of Ash: A fire History of the Lake States" (199-21) in his book, Fire in America (1997). Pyne's chapter served as a good lead into Sodder's book, Michigan on Fire. I would suggest that anyone interested in learning more about the Michigan Fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries find a copy of this book and read it. It is a good and thorough account with many primary sources from those who witnessed and/or covered the fires for various period newspapers.

In writing this series, I plan to write an article on each of the fires Sodder's covers in her book: 1871, 1881, 1896, 1908, and 1911. In most cases, there were many fires in each year. After providing a brief synopsis and perhaps some relevant links to other articles or videos, I write about one thing about each fire(s) that left an impression on me.

I want to pause and offer one thing that I was to learn from Sodders. That is, Alpena is one of the towns that burned in the fires of 1911 (Sodders, 1997, 327). Alpena is a city in Alpena County bordering Thunder Bay on Lake Huron in Michigan. At the some point something clicked and I realized that it was the Alpena Community College that responded to my inter-library loan request. I am quite certain that the staff of the Alpena Community College Library had no idea why I was interested in Sodder’s book. However, when I learned that Alpena was affected by the 1911 fires, I felt a connection with them as if they were somehow involved in what I am trying to do. I returned the book to my library on December 3rd for transport back to Alpena, I wrote them a thank-you letter telling them why I was interested in their book and about my blog.

As I read Sodder’s book and did other background research on the internet for this series of articles on Michigan Fires from 1871 to 1911, I learned a little about Michigan geography and a small sense of what life was like in the later half of 19th century. At the same time, I am quite aware that the fact that I am in New Jersey during a pandemic and for various reasons am unable to travel to Michigan, that I am at somewhat of a disadvantage.

The U.S. Census Bureau has a map that I am sharing of Michigan with counties that I found useful. If you have trouble reading the map, please feel free to click on the link and you will be taken to a pdf file that you might be able to enlarge.