Northeast Minnesota wildfires burn out of control, over 20,000 acres scorched

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Fire crews are contending with another day of volatile fire conditions in northeast Minnesota on Tuesday, as they continue to battle large wildfires that have burned more than 20,000 acres and dozens of structures.

Three separate major fires continued to burn north of Duluth.

“Any one of these fires would tax our system, but the fact we have three is is very, very challenging,” St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay told MPR News on Tuesday morning.

The largest of the fires — the Camp House Fire — left damage near Brimson that Ramsay said “reminded me a lot of the video I saw from the California fires not too long ago, where there's nothing left but chimneys and cinder blocks and metal.”

“This is going to be one of the most significant fires in the history of St. Louis County,” he said.

There are no reports of injuries from any of the fires, but Ramsay said officials are trying to locate some people who lived in the fire zone.

“Some people chose not to evacuate, and their houses have been lost, so we need to determine where they are,” he said. “We are hoping that they evacuated, but this is a new phase of this incident, where we are working on determining the location of people, where they’re at and if they’re safe.”

During a news conference Tuesday in St. Paul, Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials briefed reporters on firefighting efforts. So far, all three of the large fires are zero-percent contained, they said.

Unseasonably hot weather, wind, low humidity and drought-like conditions have contributed to creating a worse-than-usual fire season.

Patty Thielen, forestry director for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said as of mid May, fires already have burned more than 37,000 acres, compared to about 12,000 acres in an average year.

“This is usually our busiest time of year for fires, in April and May,” she said. “So it’s not an unusual season, but it's been a really tough year.”

The Camp House fire north of Duluth alone has burned close to 12,000 acres so far, according to Ryan Williams, incident commander trainee for the Camp House fire. Speaking to reporters in Two Harbors today, he said 80 responders from federal, state, municipal and local partners are fighting the fire. 

Williams said the biggest issue right now is spot fires, as there's a lot of dead trees that are serving as fuel for the fire.

“Couple that with the challenging winds, as you feel right here today, the lake effect has been influencing the fire, causing issue to firefighters with containment as they do their best to suppress the fire and again, prioritize point protection,” Williams said. 

Williams said that on Wednesday, the Eastern Area Complex Incident Management team will take over handling the Camp House and Jenkins fires. The exact time at which that will happen has not yet been determined, he said.

Williams said he's optimistic that rain expected later in the week will help firefighting efforts and help crews begin to contain the raging fires. 

With hot, dry weather expected to continue until Thursday, the situation is still developing and dangerous, Gov. Tim Walz said. He urged people to heed burning restrictions, and to evacuate if asked to do so.

"I know these are difficult decisions to make,” Walz said. “It's not only for your own safety. It's for the firefighters safety, because protecting these buildings in life puts them at risk."

Walz has called up the National Guard to help fire crews battling the flames on the ground and from the air.

Ramsay provided an update Tuesday morning on three major fires:

Camp House Fire near Brimson

• 12,000 acres

• Zero-percent containment

• More than 40 structures destroyed, including homes and cabins

• Evacuation orders remain in place, extending east into Lake County

Jenkins Creek Fire southeast of Hoyt Lakes

• 6,800 acres

• Zero-percent containment

• At least one structure destroyed

• Evacuation orders remain in place and will be expanded Tuesday

Munger Shaw / Three Lakes Road Fire east of Canyon

• 1,300 acres

• Initial evacuation orders were lifted Monday night, but could be reinstated if fire activity increases

St. Louis County has posted its wildfire evacuation maps online. Some key highways in the sparsely populated area are closed — including County Highway 16 that’s used by people traveling between the Iron Range and the North Shore.

Fire crews will face another day of challenging conditions on Tuesday, with low humidity and gusty winds out of the south. Red flag warnings are in place for northeast Minnesota — and much of the rest of the state — for another day.

An air quality alert is in effect for northeast Minnesota on Tuesday due to smoke from the wildfires.

Ramsay urged people to stay away from the fire zone, and to obey road-closure signs.

“We have had a number of people that have gotten in the way of firefighting because they are just simply going to look at the fire,” he said. “If you go around one of those signs, be prepared to get a ticket. We want to make sure that these firefighters are allowed to do their job without having people get in the way.”

Evacuees gather near Brimson

As the Camp House and Jenkins Creek fires grow, Hugo’s Bar and restaurant in Brimson, about 20 miles north of Two Harbors, is a hub of activity, as people who evacuated their homes share stories, commiserate, grab a bite to eat or a beer.

Patsy Elberling, 72, is there. She moved to the area over 30 years ago from Louisiana. She says she and her husband evacuated their home about three miles from here on Sunday, and they returned Monday, believing the danger had passed.

“My husband goes to the end of the road on the four-wheeler, and he’s not the person to panic, so when he comes back, (yelling) ‘Get out! Get out!’, (we had to go),” Elberling said. “And you could see the fire was on you in my neighbor’s yard at the end of the road. Her place was burning, and we’re right behind her.”

Elberling doubts her home will be there when they go back.

“I do not believe it will be, but I’ll be surprised if it is. I mean, because the smoke was almost so thick you couldn’t drive through it coming out, and you could see the fire in it, you know, I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be there,” she said.

Weather conditions, dead trees fueling fires

The fires are driven by unusually hot, dry conditions and gusty winds. And they’re burning in a forest that’s been feasted on in recent years by a native caterpillar known as the spruce budworm. The pest has killed more than a million balsam fir trees over the past four years, turning them into giant matchsticks.

“And when you’ve got critical fire weather days and the opportunity for higher fire intensities, that component of just that available fuel source to carry into the canopy can cause those larger crown runs,” says Christine Kolinski, public information officer with the Minnesota incident command team assigned to the fire.

“That’s when you get the big acreage gains, is when the fire gets up in the canopy and really runs,” Kolinski adds. 

Mikala Schliep saw the power of the fire up close. She and her boyfriend left the home that they’re building outside of Brimson near the Elberling’s home on Sunday. They returned Monday to get some more of their things, but on their way back toward Hugo’s on County Highway 44, the fire leapt across the road.

“It was fire on both sides (of the road),” said Schliep.  “And then, the neighbor’s house is right in front of the property there, and that was bursting with flames. So, yeah, I mean, it was just a big firewall on both sides, and there was so much smoke.”

The cause of the fires remains under investigation. But Schliep says the rumor flying around at Hugo’s is that the Camp House Fire was caused by a campfire that was left unattended. Fire officials acknowledge that investigators are looking into that possibility.

It’s unclear how many homes and cabins have been destroyed so far, though St. Louis County officials late Monday estimated that the Camp House Fire had burned more than 40 structures — which could include homes, cabins, garages or other outbuildings.

Some people learned the fate of their home while waiting at Hugo’s. Donna Arnold sat in the parking lot keeping a friend company who had evacuated from his place.

“Well, I just, I saw one lady, she was told, apparently, that she lost her home or cabin, and she just screamed, screamed, put her head in her hands, and she’s just devastated, you know,” Arnold said, adding “and to see that in this little community (is heartbreaking.)”

This part of Northeast Minnesota is a tight knit community, where many area residents have known each other for decades. And they’re rallying to help those who may have lost their homes in the fires. Patsy Elberling says many people who had to flee their homes are staying with friends, neighbors or family.

“And there’s nobody here that don’t have a place to go,” Elberling said. “These people (are) the most welcoming people in the world. It’s a real community here, you know.”

Elberling says she didn’t have time to leave her home without much beyond the clothes on her back. But she says what's important is that she and her neighbors got out alive.

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