Residents of Michigan should be extra careful with outdoor fires this month, reported officials at the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Owing to a lack of moisture, fire danger has reached high levels throughout the state, just as spring activities such as camping are beginning to take place.

Lynne Boyd, chief of the DNR Forest, Mineral and Fire Management Division, said, "The majority of wildfires we fight in our state are started because someone was careless with fire."

As of Thursday, April 27, DNR fire officers had responded to 140 wildfires that burned 574 acres, and more are expected until the state receives more moisture and things begin to green up in the woods, officials said.