Mom recounts family's escape from BWCA wildfire
MN wildfires: Family abandons camps to escape fires
Due to raging wildfires in northern Minnesota, evacuations are underway for communities north of Ely, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area has officially closed. Evacuee Bailey Shinn joined All Day to share her family's escape from the wildfires.
(FOX 9) - A family had to abandon their camp as they were quickly forced to evacuate from the Boundary Waters while flames from the wildfires began to encroach on their campsites on Monday.
Boundary Waters wildfires
What we know:
Bailey Shinn joined FOX 9 All Day on Tuesday to share her family's story of escape from the wildfires in northern Minnesota.
Shinn was staying in the Pipestone Falls camping ground when they got word of the evacuation order in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. At first, she didn't realize how urgent the situation was.
"We couldn't see the fire at that time," she recalled. "So we started packing, not with a huge sense of urgency. Within about an hour of that, things had escalated very quickly. Smoke was billowing, black smoke, dark, dark smoke. The whole campground was orange with the light coming through the smoke from the fire just encroaching. So we realized it was a little more urgent and started packing more quickly."
A camper snaps a photo of the Pipestone Falls portage in the BWCAW as her family paddled out to avoid encroaching wildfires. (Bailey Shinn / Supplied)
Local perspective:
It was at that point that the danger of the situation began to set in.
"Three different groups who went by us kind of yelled at us and encouraged us [to leave]," Shinn said. "Ultimately, my husband and I had to abandon our tent and some of our bigger gear that just hadn't made it in yet. So we made sure we grabbed the essentials and he made sure to get propane."
Big picture view:
Shinn explained how quickly the situation changed while her family was on the trip.
"It wasn't even on our radar," said Shinn when the family set out on their trip. "There wasn't even a fire ban."
The Source: Bailey Shinn joined FOX 9's All Day on Tuesday to talk about her experience evacuating the BWCA wildfires.