The impact of the March ice storm is still lingering as 60% of trails in the region remain temporarily closed.

The closest historical comparison in the area was the damage wrought by the Great Michigan Fire of 1871, which burned about 2.5 million acres of forest. “It’s certainly the worst natural disaster that ...

The Port Huron fire of 1871 took place on October 8th, 1871. (MSU/Michigan History) (WDIV) Two massive fires in the late 1800s caused significant damage in the Thumb -- and around Michigan.

Perhaps the most well-known fire in the U.S. was the Great Chicago Fire, which started on Oct. 8, 1871. ... Marinette and Escanaba State Forest areas. And the other was the Great Michigan Fire, ...

According to survivor accounts, railroad workers clearing land for tracks started a brush fire on Oct. 8, 1871, that grew into an inferno that scorched between 1.2 million and 1.5 million acres.

How Michigan's Great Fire of 1881 launched American Red Cross disaster relief. Frank Witsil. Detroit Free Press. ... The 1871 firestorm, the U-M report said, ...

In addition, Michigan, which has something like 20 million acres of woodlands, historically has had its share of terrible forest fires, including one in 1881, which swept across Michigan’s Thumb ...