GRAYLING — Myrna Restainer lives about a half-mile from where an 1,100-acre forest fire ignited in Crawford County.
"We weren't evacuated, but we didn't stay," she said early today.
Restainer grabbed her photographs, her husband, her dog and hit the road, she said.
"I just took everything that was precious to me," Restainer said. "The further you went into town, you could see the flames flying in the air. It was scary."
The wildfire sparked Thursday afternoon near railroad tracks on the eastern side of Grayling and quickly consumed hundreds of acres as strong winds pushed it forward. The fire jumped Interstate 75 and burned toward the northwest side of town.
Power is not yet restored to some parts of Crawford County, said Sarah Medler, public information officer for the county's emergency management department.
It's suspected that sparks from a train ignited the fire, but an official determination on the cause has not yet been made, Medler said.
Rain fell overnight and helped with firefighters' efforts; the blaze was nearly contained by this morning and was expected to be doused later today, officials said.
"The rain that came overnight tamped things down there," said Mary Dettloff, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Wetland areas around the Au Sable River also helped control the fire, she said.
Six homes or cabins were damaged at the Grayling Game Club in the Simpson Lake area and firefighters will enter the scorched land today to see whether the structures were destroyed, officials said.
"We're going in today on foot because all we had yesterday was a visual by air," Dettloff said.
About 50 to 60 homes were evacuated because of the raging wildfire, including the Karen Woods subdivision just south of M-72 on the west side of town. Residents were allowed to return today.
"It looked pretty bad at 10:30 last night. There were still some little flare-ups along the freeway," said Terry Wright, Grayling Township supervisor. "It looks like all the firefighters did an excellent job."
Wright toured the township's burned area late Thursday with fire officials, he said.
The American Red Cross shelter at Camp Graying is now closed, but the agency is offering assistance to those who lost their homes, said Theresa Zambeck, agency spokeswoman from the West Branch office.
Those in need should call 1-800-691-6059 for help, she said.
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