Firefighters have conducted a prescribed burn at Fayette Historic State Park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula with the aim of helping return the area to how it looked in the 1800s.
The state Department of Natural Resources says it's the first time it's used a prescribed burn for historical purposes. The recent fire was used to clear brush and vegetation from what would have been the infield of an oval-shaped horse racing track.
The park includes a historic town site with more than 20 buildings, a modern campground, a boat launch, a beach and hiking and cross-country skiing trails. The town was a once-busy iron smelting industrial community surrounding Snail Shell Harbor.
Prescribed burns often are used to simulate the benefits of natural fires, enhance wildlife habitat or clear invasive species.
