Crews continue battling Flanders Fire in Crow Wing County; evacuation orders remain in place
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Crews continued battling a wildfire Sunday in northern Crow Wing County that erupted Saturday and spread quickly.
The Flanders Fire started early Saturday afternoon amid dry, windy conditions near County Road 11 southeast of Crosslake and grew to more than 1,600 acres as of Sunday night. Authorities said the fire was 20 percent contained as of Sunday night — an improvement from zero percent containment earlier in the day.
The area is mostly rural and not heavily populated. But it's dotted with homes and cabins.
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The Minnesota Incident Command Team took over the fire response management on Sunday.
"We've got additional support personnel that can kind of handle and manage the logistics, the finance, the planning, all those aspects of having a larger incident or fire on the landscape,” said Tim Engrav, the team's public information officer.
About 100 firefighters were dispatched to the blaze. On Saturday, water-scooping planes doused the ground to slow the fire. Ground crews bulldozed containment lines.
Engrav said Sunday he was also keeping an eye on the shifting wind.
"Now it could kind of push the opposite direction, so we want to make sure those those lines and what they've been working on are secure,” he said.
The Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office said as of Sunday afternoon, the fire hadn't destroyed any homes or other primary structures. It's possible that some sheds or outbuildings were damaged.
Crews also continued working Sunday to contain a second large wildfire in northern Minnesota — the Stewart Trail Fire near Two Harbors. Authorities said that fire burned more than 30 buildings.
Residents who live near the Flanders Fire were told Saturday to evacuate the area. Others were put on alert to be ready to leave if necessary.
Eight people spent the night at nearby Camp Knutson. Three people with pets stayed at the Crosslake Community Center, which served as an emergency shelter.
Kara Terry, director of community services for Crow Wing County, said they were “really grateful that they had a place that they could come to to get information, and also pretty scared, not knowing what was going to happen with the fire."
Terry said the shelter would remain open as long as people needed it. She said several local businesses donated food or offered other help.
"Crosslake is a pretty amazing community, and Crow Wing County overall,” she said. “We have a lot of great folks here."
Jill Boyat stopped by the community center on Sunday to pick up information and snacks. She owns a cabin on Fool Lake, in the evacuation zone.
"We're one of the few seasonal people or partial-year people in our community,” Boyat said. “So I have a lot of neighbors who are currently displaced, and I'm concerned for them."
Boyat and her husband were outside of their cabin on Saturday when they saw a huge plume of smoke to the north and west.
"We kind of kept an eye on where the smoke cloud was, and the wind speed was pretty intense,” she said. “We knew things would spread or change quickly."
When the evacuation order came, Boyat's husband gathered up some clothing, medication and a few sentimental items and left.
Although their property seemed to have been spared, Boyat worried about the scenic rural woods and wildlife that are abundant near their cabin.
"It takes so long to regrow a forest,” she said. “I know it regrows. I know that fire sometimes is rebuilding, rejuvenating. But it's still hard to go through that process."
County Road 11 remains closed and authorities asked people to stay out of the area.
The cause of the Flanders fire is still under investigation. Engrav said a drought spanning multiple years has left trees and fallen logs tinder dry.
"It's just not a time to do any outdoor burning,” he said. “With the winds and these low relative humidity levels, fire can get away really fast."
Officials cautioned people to avoid outdoor burning while wildfire risk remains extreme.
The forecast did call for some rain both Sunday and Monday, which could help firefighting efforts.
In the meantime, people who want to help can donate to the Bridges of Hope or the Red Cross. Another nonprofit, Lakes Area Heroes, is supporting firefighters and emergency responders.
