Minnesota wildfire rages to 1,000 acres, blazing toward the north

A fire in the Superior National Forest about six miles west of Ely that was started on purpose Thursday but then raged out of control has grown to more than 1,000 acres as of noon today.

The so-called prescribed fire, near Foss Lake, was intended to improve wildlife habitat and forest regeneration as well as remove fuel for future wildfires.

But the fire jumped its intended boundaries about 2 p.m. Thursday and grew well beyond the 78 acres intended "after an unexpected change in weather conditions. Higher winds and lower relative humidity than expected were experienced shortly after ignition and a spot fire north of the control line escaped containment," fire officials noted today.

Warm and dry conditions continue today as southerly winds at about 5 mph are pushing the fire north, away from any developed areas and toward the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Fire officials said the blaze calmed overnight under light winds and higher humidity. But at least 80 firefighters and eight water-dropping aircraft are working on the fire today. The Lake Vermilion Fire Brigade's fire boat is stationed on Burntside Lake to protect cabins there and the Morse/Fall Lake Fire Department is standing by to protect cabins in the area as well.

On Thursday afternoon "aircraft and work by ground crews were able to slow the spread of the fire (east), protecting the north shore of Burntside Lake," Superior National Forest officials noted in a fire update this afternoon. "Today, aircraft and ground crews will conduct direct attack on the north, east and west flanks."

BWCAW entry point No. 4 has been closed. A broader closure of parts of the Superior National Forest in the area will be announced today, including BWCAW lakes west of Burntside Lake, south of Cummings Lake and east of Trout Lake.

The Forest Service will hold a community meeting on the fire at 7 p.m. today in the Vermilion Community College theater in Ely.

The Forest Service said it was notifying visitors to the area who may be in the path of the fire. Officials are hoping to snuff the fire as much as possible before Sunday, when gusty south winds are expected that could rekindle the blaze

The smoke plume from the fire could be seen from miles away, officials said.

The region remains in the midst of a weeklong dry spell with warm and sunny days. Those are perfect conditions to start intentional fires. But those intentional fires sometimes grow beyond the intended boundaries, and the conditions for wildfires to spread remain high in far northern Minnesota until new green grass and leaves overcome last year's dead and dry forest brush.

The next significant chance for rain isn't expected until Monday.