Devil in the North Woods: a novel of the 1908 Metz, Michigan fire

In October 1908,the largest wildfire in modern Michigan history swept through the northeast part of the state, obliterating the thriving town of Metz and consuming more than 900 homes and two million acres of virgin forest. Despite the valiant efforts of the farmers, lumbermen, and shopkeepers who had hacked their fortunes from these woods, only the shores of Lake Huron could quench the sulfurous flames. With no fire watch towers, spotting aircraft, telephones, or organized firefighting organizations and with only limited telegraph service, warnings were too few and too late. Based on contemporary reports and recorded oral histories, this book accurately depicts the fire's genesis, growth, and aftermath and contrasts nature's destructive power with a chronicle of love, sorrow, family, and recovery from loss.