Storms start to move out of Minnesota, continue for western Wisconsin

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Deepening drought conditions have led officials to ban campfires in northern Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

After a summer of plentiful rain, the turn to much drier weather in recent weeks has led to increasing risk of wildfires. The 

 in parts of the Boundary Waters was listed as “extreme” this week, with a threat of explosive growth of any fires that may start.

In response, the Superior National Forest is now 

, charcoal grills and wood-burning stoves in the BWCAW until further notice. Gas or propane cookstoves are still allowed. 

Rangers will be informing paddlers currently in the wilderness about the new restrictions.

Outside the BWCAW, while campfires are still allowed across the rest of the state, authorities are urging people to use extreme caution. There’s little if any rain in the forecast over the next week.

Little to no rain has fallen on the Boundary Waters over the past several weeks. The growing drought, combined with very warm temperatures, has dried out branches and needles in the forest that could fuel a fire. 

“It’s dry 2 to 4 inches down into the soil,” said Forest Service public information officer Tim Engrav. That means for any fire that starts, it’s much more challenging “to extinguish the pockets of heat,” Engrav said — what firefighting crews call “mopping up” the fire. 

In the past week, firefighters have responded to three instances in the Boundary Waters where campfires that paddlers had started were not properly extinguished, or escaped. 

One of those started a small fire on Saganaga Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail last week. Firefighters responded and extinguished the blaze. Crews put out a similar small fire on Cherokee Lake. And Engrav said crews responded to another escaped campfire on Monday. 

“That’s another indicator for us that it was time to take that step of restricting campfires in the Boundary Waters,” said Engrav, who also noted an uptick in traffic to the wilderness area this fall due to the unseasonably warm temperatures. 

As the campfire restrictions take effect, authorities 

 in recent days at the smoldering Wood Lake Fire in the BWCAW.

The fire about 15 miles east-northeast of Ely was first spotted on Sept. 10, and had shown little activity last week.

But the fire spread by about five acres amid warm, dry, windy conditions on Sunday; it’s now estimated at about 32 acres in size. Forest Service officials said aircraft dropped water on the fire Sunday and Monday.

“They've been hitting it pretty hard, kind of holding it in check,” said Engrav, as dry conditions persist. 

The BWCAW’s Wood Lake entry point, and several lakes and portages in the area, are closed due to the fire.

The fire is believed to be human-caused and remains under investigation.

Dan Kraker

Author

Andrew Krueger

Deepening drought conditions have led officials to ban campfires in northern Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Meanwhile, authorities reported an increase in activity in recent days at a smoldering wildfire in the BWCAW.

Campfire ban now in place for Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

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