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Water-scooping planes have been called in from Minnesota to help fight a remote wildfire north of Craig Lake in Baraga County.
The fire likely began as two separate lightning strike fires, which then merged together, said Paul Rogers, a fire prevention specialist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
The fires were discovered around 2:45 p.m. Thursday.
The fire grew to 16 acres by Thursday night and has remained roughly the same size throughout the day today.
A Michigan State Police helicopter has been working the fire area, scooping water into a collapsible canvas device known as a "Bambi Bucket."
The two planes from Hibbing, Minnesota arrived this afternoon and are lifting water out of Lake Michigamme to dump on the fire. The planes were expected to return to Minnesota later today.
DNR firefighters are on the rugged, remote fire scene. Additional personnel from Craig Lake State Park have been assisting fire crews by opening gates for better firefighter access to the blaze.
"We're continuing to get resources trying to get hand crews in there and get access through old logging roads into the site," Rogers said. "We are trying to get as much containment on it today as we can with the high winds that are expected tomorrow."
Rogers asked people to avoid the area, which is popular for fall color. He also asked people to keep personal drones on the ground.
"Fire suppression aircraft can't fly when drones are present," he said.
For more information on firefighting in Michigan visit Michigan.gov/FireManagement.