Big Prairie, Michigan
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Big Prairie Township. It lies in ZIP code area 49349. The Survey maps it on the Big Prairie quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 13 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1954 USGS Midland quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Midland quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Woodville quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Midland quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Midland quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Big Rapids quadrangle1:100000
- 1985 USGS Big Prairie quadrangle1:24000
- 1991 USGS Big Rapids quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
130 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 130 fires within 5 miles of Big Prairie between 1994 and 2020, burning about 259 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 6 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 68 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 10 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 6 |
| Other causes | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 September 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | BASELINE |
| 17 September 2017 | Other causes | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | WILLOW |
| 11 September 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | CROTON TOWNSHIP FD 144 - 2020 |
| 9 August 2019 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 3.3 acres | Huron-Manistee National Forest | FOOTBALL |
| 4 August 2019 | Other causes | 1.4 acres | Huron-Manistee National Forest | BARN |
| 4 August 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | OXBOW LAKE |
| 3 August 2019 | Debris and open burning | 3.2 acres | Huron-Manistee National Forest | EAST THORNAPPLE |
| 24 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | BIG LOG |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Big Prairie: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K & V Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
3 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Big Prairie in 3 storm reports between 2006 and 2022: 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Big Prairie | $25,000 | Several trees were blown down across Newaygo county. |
| July 2006 | Hail | Big Prairie | $5,000 | Law enforcement reported one inch hail in Big Prairie. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Big Prairie | - | Numerous trees were blown down in Big Prairie and Goodwell townships. Trees and power lines were blown down near Bitely. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxbow Park | 2.3 miles | 13 | |
| Oxbow | 2.7 miles | 12 | |
| Big Bend | 3.2 miles | 13 | |
| Croton Heights | 4.3 miles | 12 | |
| Riverview | 4.9 miles | 12 | |
| Croton | 5.6 miles | 12 | |
| White Cloud | 7.2 miles | 14 | |
| Alleyton (historical) | 7.9 miles | 14 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1617444. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.







