Crews gain ground on Boundary Waters fires as rain eases conditions
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Hundreds of firefighters continue to battle wildfires that have burned tens of thousands of acres in the Boundary Waters.
Recent rain has helped keep a large fire burning in the eastern Boundary Waters in check this week, though officials caution that it’s still smoldering deep underground.
The Little Knife fire has burned several thousand acres about 10 miles from the end of the Gunflint Trail. Officials overseeing efforts to contain that fire, including Jason Loomis, an incident commander with a federal wildfire management team, spoke at a public meeting Tuesday in Lutsen.
“By and large, this fire is looking really good, but we can't turn our back on it,” he said.
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Loomis said while there’s been less smoke and flames in recent days, the fire is burrowing deeper below ground where it may linger and remain a threat until winter.
But he said for now, the relatively calm conditions are allowing crews time to create a strategic plan to contain the fire.
Meanwhile, access to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness remains closed through at least Friday. “Go” evacuation orders remain in place for homes, cabins and businesses along the Fernberg Trail east of Ely and along much of the Echo Trail
In a video posted Tuesday from along the Echo Trail, St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said there are no immediate changes planned for evacuation zones.
“I realize that many of you that have property here… would like to remove items or check on them, but that will not be happening for the next few days at least,” he said. “The fire conditions are still very tinder, and while we’re a little optimistic over the last few days how things have gone, things can change very quickly.”
In an additional update Tuesday night, Ramsay posted that “fire crews made noticeable progress today.”
“The cooler weather and rains gave opportunities to strengthen fire lines and it’s really starting to show,” he wrote. “The Forest Service is now talking about real progress at critical areas of the fires.”
Meanwhile, officials are looking out for any new fires that started from lightning strikes earlier this week.
