Metz Fire

Tuesday afternoon I drove over to Onaway to change my electrical billing rate from seasonal to monthly. Full-time residents get a better rate from Presque Isle Electric and Gas Coop.  On the way home I took a detour through the village of Metz, south of Rogers City.  Metz gave its name to the forest fire which swept Presque Isle County on Thursday, October 15, 1908.

Michigan had a long, sad history of wildfires in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  The pine forests of of our state produced hundreds of thousands of board feet of lumber each year, and made many Michiganders very wealthy.  The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island is a tribute to Michigan's lumber baron era.  However, lumbering left extensive residue — logs not suitable for milling, trimmed branches, etc. — on the forest floor.  This "slash" served as fuel for fires started by lightning or human carelessness, especially during dry years.  The worst was the Great Michigan Fire of October 8, 1871.  As many as 500 people are said to have died.  This giant conflagration was fanned by the same winds which, on that same day, drove the Great Chicago Fire across Lake Michigan.

The summer of 1908 had been hot and dry.  While the origin of the Metz fire is not known, it likely started when a farmer used fire to clear land or a passing train dropped a spark.  From its ignition point west of Millersburg, near Onaway, and driven by gale force winds, the fire quickly burned its way east to Metz and then all the way to Lake Huron, 35 miles away.

Thirty-seven people died in the Metz Fire, and 700 were left homeless.  The most poignant incident was the incineration of sixteen people, mostly women and children, on the outskirts of Metz as they tried to escape the fire by railroad.  This event is noted on the historical marker on Route 441 at Metz.

The historical marker at Metz, with photos of the fire.

For a larger view, click on the photo above.

With burning embers carried on the wind, the fire spread rapidly across the county.  In the north it threatened Rogers City, the county seat.  In the south it jumped across Grand Lake on its race to Lake Huron.  Almost certainly the fire burned across my home site on the east shore of Lake Esau.

With winter approaching, the plight of the survivors struck a chord.  Many downstate residents contributed relief supplies, including residents of the wealthy Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe.  It was in this way that women in Metz, who had lost all their possessions in the fire, found themselves wearing expensive evening gowns sent north by Grosse Pointe matrons.

For more information on the Metz Fire, go to: http://www.metzfire.com/THE%20FIRE.htm  •••