Riverton fire started by campfire

RIVERTON TWP. — A recreational camping fire started a fire in southern Riverton Township this afternoon. A large black plume of smoke could be seen for miles. The black smoke was caused by tires that caught on fire, Riverton Township Fire Chief Joe Cooper said.

The fire took place on the Dan Petersen farm on West Marrison Road, just west of Schwass Road. Cooper said a weekend campfire was supposedly extinguished by its users but somehow some sparks still managed to stay lit. Fire risk is very high right now due to extremely dry conditions.

“They thought they had the fire out. They buried it and really went above and beyond, but somehow it still managed to catch on fire at some point yesterday or today,” Cooper said. “It then spread through some grass and hit a pile of tires. The tires were pretty old and we were able to get the fire out rather quickly. We were actually pretty lucky because it was right next to some pretty good sized woods.”

Riverton and Scottville fire departments responded shortly after 4:30 p.m. and stayed on seen for a couple hours.