6/24/12 - Meridian Twp wildland fire, off dead end of Creekstone Tr

Around 1 PM on Sunday, June 24, 2012, the Meridian Township Fire Department responded to a burning complaint near Hagadorn & Mt Hope Rds. Firefighters discovered a large amount of smoke coming from an inaccessible area to the southeast and had to navigate by foot to investigate. An unattended grass fire was soon discovered and mutual aid was requested for a grass rig from the Delhi Twp Fire Department. Firefighters continued investigating on foot for a way to get to the fire found an unmaintained drive extending off the dead end of Creekstone Tr that provided full access. The head of the fire was attacked first, since this was starting to enter an area heavily populated by trees, with homes on the other side. Additional mutual aid was requested from the NIESA-Williamston Fire Department for grass rigs as well. The grass fire had extended over a large area of acreage and had several fingers running to the north and south of the fastest moving area of fire. Command requested additional grass rigs from the Mason, Dansville and Leslie fire departments to assist. Meridian brought in an engine to provide large amounts of water for a pile of mulch and a large area of wood stumps that was now involved. Once the fire was controlled, personnel traveled the entire perimeter to extinguish smoldering fires in trees and dead wood. Delhi Township and Williamston provided tankers to supply water to Meridian's engine in order to cover the mulch and smoldering area of stumps with foam to complete extinguishment. A backhoe was called in from the Meridian Public Works Dept to assist in overhauling these areas. Water for the tankers and grass rigs was provided from a hydrant on Creekstone Tr. Firefighters were on the scene for over 5 hours controlling this fire.