CRYSTAL LAKE TWP. – Fire crews had to battle dry conditions, rising winds and unfavorable terrain to put out a brush fire that began to consume a garage on Airport Road.

Mike Cederholm, fire chief for the Frankfort Fire Department, said a call came in for a brush fire around  noon on May 17. When he arrived on the scene of the fire, in the 600 block of Airport Road near the Frankfort Dow Memorial Airport, the situation had evolved.

“We were prepared for a brush fire, but as soon as I came around the corner and saw black smoke I knew something with more carbon content was burning,” he said. “Wildland smoke is usually whitish. We rounded the bend and saw flames licking the back of a pole barn.”

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A structure fire in a garage near a residence in the 600 block of Airport Road has caused a temporary closure of the road by the Frankfort Down Memorial Airport. 

A structure fire in the 600 block of Airport Road has caused a temporary closure of the road by the Frankfort Down Memorial Airport. 

A structure fire in the 600 block of Airport Road has caused a temporary closure of the road by the Frankfort Down Memorial Airport. 

The Benzonia Fire Department responds to a mutual aid call for a fire that started out as a brush fire, but turned into a structure fire on May 17. 

Water is pumped up to the scene of a fire in the 600 block of Airport Road by hundreds of feet of hose. 

A long driveway of sand made it impossible for most fire trucks to make it to the scene of a structure fire. Fire crews had to pump water up from the road.

Cederholm said the mutual aid call was made to the Benzonia Township Fire Department and more equipment was requested from the Frankfort department as well.

Cederholm said dry conditions and a rising wind made putting out the brush fire a priority, but getting equipment to the scene was difficult due to a long driveway from the road being impassable.

“The driveway was all low sand,” he said. “We buried one truck. The brush truck was the only thing that could get up the hill.”

Fire crews had to pump water from trucks parked on the side of the road to the brush truck, which then pumped it to firefighters putting out the fire. Cederholm said hundreds of feet of hose had to be used.

The brush fire was put out before it could spread, and Cederholm said much of the pole barn, and most of the items in it were saved. 

Cederholm said it couldn’t have been done without the volunteers.

“I want to thank all of the responders for putting their time and effort in,” he said. “I’m just the chief, and you can’t do anything without a team. They all came together from both stations.”

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

It is important to note that debris burning is not currently allowed in northern Michigan, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources burn permit map. 

I grew up in Frankfort enjoying the lakes and streams of the Benzie County area. I started school at Northwestern Michigan College and finished at Central Michigan University. I enjoy walking, fishing and reading.