Firefighters with Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, in coordination with crews with the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, will conduct a controlled burn on 66 acres in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District sometime this month.

Sleeping Bear officials say the controlled burn will occur on the Burfiend Fields. fire will be set on both sides of Port Oneida Road, north of Lane Road and south of Baker Road.

Assistant superintendent Tom Ulrich said Lakeshore officials have tentatively scheduled the burn for next week, May 12-18. “Scheduling a controlled burn is difficult. We’ve set aside next week and will start looking at weather conditions starting on Monday and will check each day. If the conditions are good, it will go, if not, it won’t,” he said.

While Indiana Dunes Lakeshore is the fire service center for the region, Sleeping Bear generally has 15 or so workers who are certified wildland fire fighters. Ulrich said to be a certified wildland firefighter, an employee has to take and pass the wildland fire fighter course and pass the physical. “We’ll have some guys from Indiana Woods, but most of our guys will be on scene keeping things under control,” he said.

This will be the first controlled burn conducted in the lakeshore’s history according to Chief fire ranger Steve Yancho.

Glen Lake Fire Chief John Dodson said his department has been contacted by rangers from the Sleeping Bear Lakeshore to see if the department would like to participate in the controlled burn. So far, Dodson said his department has not received further inquiries, and does not plan to participate unless it gets a formal request.

According to information provided by the Lakeshore, prescribed fires may only be ignited when the wind, temperature and humidity allow for a fire which is not too intense, but still meets management objectives. Decisions to carry out prescribed fires are based on predicted weather conditions. Fires are typically scheduled 24 to 48 hours in advance; if conditions change the burn can be immediately cancelled.

The Port Oneida area was hit with a wildfire in June 2007 that charred 15 acres near the historic Port Oneida Schoolhouse on the old Kelderhouse property.

A challenging side effect to the burn will be the smoke it produces. Nearby residents can help reduce smoke exposure by closing windows and doors and staying inside when smoke is present.

“We are looking forward to the benefits that this tool will produce on Lakeshore lands,” said Sleeping Bear superintendent Dusty Shultz.