Man arrested for allegedly firing gun at firefighting plane in northern Minnesota
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Authorities announced Monday that a man has been arrested for allegedly firing a gun at a firefighting plane in northern Minnesota.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office said the suspect — a 48-year-old man who lives near Orr — was arrested at his home on Sunday evening. Charges are pending.
The incident happened on Friday as the plane was scooping water to drop on a wildfire in Portage Township, northeast of Orr in northern St. Louis County.
The damage was discovered when the single-engine plane returned to the Hibbing airport. No one was injured.
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The sheriff’s office did not say how the suspect was identified. It said firearms and ammunition were seized while authorities executed a search warrant at the man’s home.
“Investigators do not believe there is any ongoing threat to the public and want to remind the public that interfering with firefighting aircraft places pilots, firefighters, and the public at significant risk,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release on Monday.
The FBI and federal aviation officials are assisting local and state authorities in the investigation.
The incident happened on a day when crews responded to more than a dozen wildland fires across St. Louis County — in addition to the destructive Stewart Trail Fire in Lake County, near Two Harbors.
