Progress Made in Fighting NE MN Wildfires, But Predicted Winds a Concern

Credit: InciWeb

More than 500 firefighters continue to battle wildfires burning in northeastern Minnesota. There has been some progress in containing the fires with cooler, wetter weather over the weekend, but predictions of higher winds and drier conditions later this week are still causing concerns.

As of late Monday afternoon, the Munger Shaw fire east of Canyon is listed at nearly 1,300 acres and is 95% contained. Late Monday morning, the Camp House fire near Brimson was listed at around 12,000 acres and was 40% contained, and the Jenkins Creek fire is at around 16,000 acres but is just 6% contained.

“[Firefighters] continue to work on the hotspots. I know this sounds like a broken record, but this is what they’re working on,” said St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay in a video update posted Monday afternoon. “[They’re] using drones with infrared to locate those hotspots and put them out. Continue to push through and build fire lines to prevent the further spread of the fires, kind of boxing it in, is the terms that they use.”

He continued, “The winds are obviously a concern. It’s shaking my car right now. The winds are the gusts are so significant and we’ll see what happens in the next day or so. But we do know that these winds are likely to ignite some of those hotspots and make them more visible. And there are crews, a number of crews inside that fire that are working on those. A matter of fact, I think believe there’s upwards of 300 people that are working that, 300 firefighters that are working that area.”

The Minnesota Incident Command System says with drier and gustier weather prediction, protection of the Skibo and Hoyt Lakes area remains a priority. Critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur.