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Water-scooping planes were called in from Minnesota to help fight a remote wildfire north of Craig Lake in Baraga County, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said.
The fire likely began as two separate lightning strike fires, which then merged together, said Paul Rogers, a fire prevention specialist with the DNR.
The fires were discovered around 2:45 p.m. Thursday.
The fire grew to 16 acres by Thursday night and remained roughly the same size throughout the day Friday.
A Michigan State Police helicopter was working the fire area, scooping water into a collapsible canvas device known as a "Bambi Bucket."
Two planes from Hibbing, Minnesota, arrived Friday afternoon and began lifting water out of Lake Michigamme to dump on the fire. The planes were expected to return to Minnesota later Friday.
DNR firefighters were on the rugged, remote fire scene. Additional personnel from Craig Lake State Park assisted fire crews by opening gates for better firefighter access to the blaze.
"We're continuing to get resources trying to get hand crews in there and get access through old logging roads into the site," Rogers said Friday. "We are trying to get as much containment on it today as we can with the high winds that are expected (Saturday)."
Rogers asked people to avoid the area, which is popular for fall color. He also asked people to keep personal drones on the ground.
"Fire suppression aircraft can't fly when drones are present," he said.