Wildfires burning north of Duluth largely contained, but increased fire danger looms
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Massive wildfires that have burned more than 40 square miles of forest in northeast Minnesota are now largely contained, but state officials are warning of increased fire danger in the weeks and months ahead.
The Camp House fire near Brimson is now 98 percent contained, and the Jenkins Creek and Munger Shaw fires both sit at 95 percent containment.
Crews continue to monitor control lines and mop up hot spots that might flare up, including smoldering stumps or ash piles.
But while firefighting efforts are winding down, Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials held a news conference Thursday to warn Minnesotans not to get complacent.
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“We're moving into some pretty hot, dry conditions coming up. Conditions are ripe for these things to take off again,” said Walz.
“There are going to be more of these over the summer,” Walz acknowledged. “The key here is to keep them as minimal as we can, to get on top of them as quickly as we can, and to make sure that we don't exhaust all of our human and equipment resources over a long summer of firefights.”
Nearly 1,100 wildfires have already ignited across the state so far this year. That’s already almost equal to the state’s typical annual average of 1,172 fires.
So far this year more than 48,000 acres of forest has already burned. That’s already nearly four times the annual average of 12,654 acres.
Horse River Fire
In the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the 12-acre Horse River Fire is burning uncontained in a remote part of the wilderness northeast of Ely, a little more than a mile from the Canadian border.
Superior National Forest officials have closed off a part of the wilderness around the fire area, including a portage between Jackfish Bay and Lower Basswood Falls.
Paddlers are also warned to stay away from the area.
The National Incident Management team handling the response to the fire said the blaze was ignited by lightning last week and continues to smolder. Thick duff — that’s partly decayed organic matter on the forest floor — and dead balsam fir trees are fueling the fire and complicating suppression efforts.
Because of the remote location of the fire and the rugged terrain, fire officials say a team of firefighters will travel by canoe to work to contain and suppress the flames.
Minnesota DNR Wildfire Administration Supervisor Mike Warnke said the agency has strategically placed firefighting resources across the state “in areas of the greatest need and ready at a moment's notice to deploy” to fight future blazes they expect to ignite.
“We're looking at a period where we think fire danger is going to increase this weekend,” Warnke said, particularly in the state’s Arrowhead region in the northeast, which has received only half its typical rainfall in May. Conditions are forecast to be hot and dry in the days ahead.
“People should expect fire conditions to remain elevated until such time that we receive significant precipitation over a long period of time.”
Joe Moore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Duluth, said a couple rounds of rain are forecast for next week. But he said it will take above normal precipitation over a prolonged period to relieve the fire danger.
“And so in between the rounds of rainfall, we're still going to have periods where it is hot, dry and windy,” conditions where wildfires could spread quickly.
Wildfire recovery
Meanwhile, as the firefighting efforts wind down on the Camp House fire, local governments are just beginning the process of assessing the damage to public infrastructure, an early step required for reimbursement from state and federal agencies, and to see what assistance may be available for cabin and homeowners.
“I want to remind everybody that recovery is a marathon, and so this is going to be a process and a situation that's not going to be a sprint, it's not going to move fast,” cautioned Allison Farole, Minnesota Emergency Management Director.
Officials stressed that while fire danger remains high, everyone has a role to play to prevent fires from starting and spreading.
“I urge Minnesotans to take burning restrictions seriously, to watch red flag warnings, and take heed and practice basic fire prevention skills, so that we all work together as Minnesotans to reduce the number of wildfires and manage this risk together,” said Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Sarah Strommen.
