GRAYLING -- Nancy Sloan nearly lost her home in a blaze that scorched Crawford County and ranked as the state's largest wildfire of 2008.
Its origin remains a mystery to Sloan and others, more than a year later.
"Around town I heard the rumors about this being kind of funny, nothing happening yet," she said.
But Sloan may soon know more about the enormous fire that ignited southeast of Grayling on April 24, 2008, and raged toward her home in the Grayling Game Club, where three neighboring houses burned to the ground and other structures were lost.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials recently met with representatives from the state Attorney General's civil division to discuss a lawsuit that would seek more than $100,000 in restitution. That figure represents the state's costs to fight the fire, plus state timber losses.
State officials refused to identify suspects, but intend to sue and demand payment for extinguishing the fire that gobbled 1,345 acres of jack pine and hardwood stands. Criminal charges could follow, officials said.
"I still can't tell you who we're going after," said Scott Heather, DNR state wildfire supervisor. "There is a party we believe to be responsible."
DNR investigators spent months probing the cause and followed up with more work this spring, he said.
The case was handed off to the attorney general, who will decide whether to issue criminal charges. State lawyers already agreed to file a civil suit, likely in Crawford County, Heather said.
"The state statute requires the DNR to collect suppression costs when there's a responsible party," he said.
Matt Frendewey, a spokesman for Attorney General Mike Cox, said officials from that office met with the DNR, but refused additional comment, other than to say "it's an important case and it deserves attention."
At the time of the fire, officials thought sparks from a passing train may have ignited the fire because it originated near train tracks southeast of Grayling. Another theory focused on sparks from an off-road vehicle.
Lake State Railway Company owns the line that runs through Grayling, said Kevin Mitrzyk, the company's chief financial officer.
"Our attorney did his own investigation and we definitely feel it wasn't caused by a passing train," he said.
High winds fueled the fire that jumped Interstate 75 and threatened homes and businesses in Grayling. Entire neighborhoods evacuated before flames dwindled in marshy wetlands near the Au Sable River.
Sloan and her late husband, Dr. John Sloan, saved their home by trimming surrounding tree limbs and turning on water sprinklers when fire approached.
Sloan has heard all the rumors about who and what caused the blaze, including whispers of a DNR-prescribed burn that spiraled out of control. State officials reject that claim. Fire danger was too great at the time for a controlled burn and all available firefighters were on standby to respond to a wildfire, Heather said.
Sloan and others hope the mystery is solved.
"I would like to know who caused the fire. There's nothing I can do about it, but I'd like to know," she said.
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