Emergency vehicles are the only ones permitted on M-18 near Grayling, after a wild fire jumped the road Tuesday.

"This is very big fire," Carol Nilsson of the Huron Manistee National Forest said. "I've been doing this for 22 years and it's the biggest fire I've seen."

Nilsson said the fire started Tuesday afternoon because a homeowner lost control of his leaf burn. It escalated into a massive forest fire spanning six miles. It took hundreds of firefighters to get it 65 percent contained by Wednesday.

"We've evacuated a number of homes and a number of people," Nilsson said. "In the fire we lost 12 homes, two were damaged, 39 out-buildings were destroyed."

So far, the fire has destroyed 7,500 acres in Crawford County, but it's not get fully contained. Fire fighters are still concerned and so too are homeowners.

"They say 'Is South Branch on fire?" Andy Partlo said.

Partlo owns the Old Ausable Fly Shop near the fire. He said plenty of "down-staters" are calling him asking about the fire's status.

"The phones have been ringing off the hook for the past couple of days from cabin owners and people asking about their vacation homes," Partlo said.

But unfortunately, there's no good answer.

"We've been telling them to check the news and check the web links through the DNR," he said.

The good news Nilsson said, the fire will most likely stay in the undeveloped area near in the park. The bad news... you won't know for sure unless you make the drive up North to see for yourself.

"There's a strong potential if it flares up and jumps the fire line, who knows where it will go," Nilsson said. "That's the concern."

Unfortunately there's no one Website or phone number people can call to check on the status of their homes. They have been relying on neighbors or simply driving up themselves.

The other fire near Camp Grayling started as a controlled burn, but got out of control thanks to wind gusts. The Camp's legal department will be paying for the four homes destroyed in that fire.