MN wildfires: 2 fires set to merge into larger blaze
MN wildfires: 2 fires could merge into massive blaze
Two burning wildfires in the Superior National Forest could merge into a huge blaze.
(FOX 9) - Two fires burning in the Superior National Forest were expected to merge into a larger blaze on Monday as fire crews work to bring 21 active fires burning in northern Minnesota under control.
Boundary Waters closed due to fires
What we know:
The U.S. Forest Service announced on Monday that the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness would close starting Tuesday at midnight due to the burning fires.
Monday afternoon, U.S. Forest Service officials said there were about 21 active fires now burning across northern Minnesota.
Local perspective:
The Forest Service has also canceled all permits for the Boundary Waters through July 17. They are hoping to keep the closure as short as possible but say the safety of firefighters and visitors is their primary concern.
Fires could merge
Big picture view:
Speaking on Monday, officials said the Bear Trap fire and the Dark fire were both growing in a way that they would likely combine to become a larger fire by the end of the day.
Due to the remote nature of the fires, officials said it was likely that the Thumb, Bear Trap, and Dark fires would continue burning in some form until the fall snowfall hit.
"The goal still is full suppression," stated Superior National Forest Supervisor Drew Stroberg. "One of the issues is in the Boundary Waters, these fires are really difficult to get to, they're difficult to access, they're difficult to get the number of firefighters we need to get in there… When the Thumb fire started, that was a good three or four portages into to get that and then it was quite a ways off the nearest lake."
Staffing challenges
By the numbers:
The sheer number of fires has strained resources and created some staffing challenges for fire crews.
The Forest Service is looking for help from national crews.
"With regard to the staff shortages, we have orders that have been placed nationwide," explained Stroberg. "A lot of our resources are coming from out west, so a lot of them are coming from Arizona, New Mexico, you know, places in the southwest where we've seen fire activity. So it does take them, you know, several days to get up here, it's because they're driving up here, it's because they have all their equipment, all their vehicles."
On the national level, things aren't much better. Officials say they are at the National Preparedness Level 4 – meaning the majority of fire crews nationally are committed to other battles. That makes it more difficult to find spare crews.
What's next:
Officials say it will take about a week for staff to go through the Boundary Waters and ensure that the area has been evacuated by visitors.
"When I say clear out, that means that we would have teams of two in a canoe… going through lake by lake," said Stroberg. "Checking each of the campsites to make sure that nobody was there and if we encounter people, let them know that they need to vacate the area. So that we estimate it would take about a week."
The other concern is that if there were the need for other emergency operations for visitors, like search and rescue, that would pull resources away from firefighting operations.