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Grass Fire Near I-75 At Joslyn Road

AUBURN HILLS (WWJ) - A massive wind-whipped grass fire attracted a lot of attention and tied up traffic Wednesday afternoon in Oakland County.

WWJ Newsradio 950 spoke with Alyssa who works at the BP gas station on Joslyn Road across from Great Lakes Crossing mall.

"I looked at the top of the hill and could see smoke. And I was thinking about calling it in but I didn't know if it was just smoke," she said. "But then I started seeing flames and then the whole hill just ignited and it just spread across and down the hill."WWJ listener Sandra Castro was also nearby.

"Lots and lots of smoke blowing. Of course the wind isn't helping and there's a lot of debris from the grass blowing. It kind of looks like a tornado to be honest," Castro said.

Fire crews were on the scene, still trying to get the blaze fully under control at 3:30 p.m. By 4 p.m. it appeared the fire was out.

Grass-Fire-chopper
Fields left blackened (credit: WWJ Photo/Bill Szumanski)

WWJ's Marie Osborne said it appeared several hundred acres of grass were left charred.

The Michigan Golf Dome was evacuated but no injuries have been reported.

The I-75 South ramp to Joslin Road was blocked, causing some traffic issues in the area. Joslyn Rd. was closed both northbound and southbound from Pacific Dr. to I-75. Great Lakes Crossing Drive was closed at Joslyn Rd.

Motorists were asked to avoid the area.

For the latest from the roads, keep it tuned to WWJ during traffic and weather, every 10 minutes on the 8s.  - Visit our traffic page -

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