‘Unhealthy’ air quality expected in eastern Minnesota through Monday afternoon due to wildfire smoke

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Wildfires burned tens of thousands of acres last week across northeastern Minnesota. As firefighters work to extinguish flames on the landscape, experts say those fires will continue to burn underground into the winter.

Tom Simone is with the Complex Incident Management Team with the National Interagency Fire Center. He’s a Department of Natural Resources wildland fire training specialist and has been helping operate heavy machinery to fight the fires.

Simone’s group has been fighting fires near Echo Lake, far west of Ely. He said that when trees or stumps catch fire, it burns all the way to their roots, like a cigar.

“They seem to be a little more challenging than we're used to, just because they're burning down so deep into the ground,” he said. “Everything below your feet is on fire.”

And those fires can smolder under the soil for months. 

Simone’s job is to use bulldozers to dig deep into the earth, not only to create fire breaks so the flames can’t jump further, but also dredge up fires underground.

Firefighters will “try to scrape it down to that mineral soil level. So when the fire hits that dozer line, it can't just kind of creep across,” he said. 

Simone and his team have been working around the clock in 90-degree weather. He said more people show up their briefings everyday and the crews keep growing, but it’s not without its challenges. 

“It wears on you, and you just got to kind of keep reminding yourself it's a marathon, not a sprint.” Simone said.

Listen to the conversation by clicking the player above.

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Live updates: Wildfires in Minnesota

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The wildfires scorching northeastern Minnesota now are especially challenging because they’re burning deeply into the ground. “Everything below your feet is on fire,” an expert tells MPR News.

Northern wildfires could burn well into winter, but underground

Minnesota wildfires could burn underground into winter

Wildfire smoke casts an orange hue over northern Minnesota landscapes

Minnesota wildfires could burn underground into winter

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