Minnesota Wildfire Moving Toward Rainy Lake
The fire, which is being allowed to run its course, moved toward Rainy Lake, pushed by gusty south winds. It had charred about 1,060 acres by Tuesday evening and was still moving, said Mike Johnson, National Park Service spokesman.
A few private cabins in the area and some owned by the National Park Service and leased back to their original owners have been equipped with outdoor sprinklers and are being soaked to prevent embers from the fire from igniting their roofs, said Barb West, Voyageurs superintendent.
A national fire team is on hand to monitor the fire, but no effort has been made to snuff it. The fire, detected July 8, was started by lightning and is burning in an area where fire plans call for letting wildfires take their course.
It's the largest fire within the 218,000-acre park since Voyageurs was formed by Congress in 1975.
"If there was any place in the park where a fire should be allowed to burn, this is it," West said. "It is part of the Park Service's mission to restore natural ecological systems when possible, and this is one of those situations."
The fire is burning through old, dead and downed timber as well as grass and healthy timber. Scientists note that fire is part of natural forest regeneration.
Parts of Rainy Lake and inland areas have been closed to travel in the park, including several south shore campsites on Rainy Lake, but most of the park remains open to boating and camping. Canadian officials also are monitoring the fire, which is not expected to jump any part of Rainy Lake.
Thunderstorms expected today across parts of the Northland could soak parched ground and offer a temporary reprieve from fire danger. Or the storms could spur lightning with little rain and spark new wildfires on dry ground.
Much of the region remains in a dry June-July weather pattern with only a 50-60 percent chance of rain today, the National Weather Service in Duluth reported.
Because of the dry conditions, campfires are being banned during the day in parts of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is within the Superior National Forest. Starting Friday, campfires and charcoal cooking fires in part of the area hit by the 1999 blowdown windstorm will be allowed only from 7 p.m. to midnight.
The effort is aimed at reducing the chance a campfire will escape during current dry conditions and start a major wildfire. Fire conditions generally diminish when temperatures drop and humidity rises at dusk.
The Forest Service suggests that campers bring a gas or propane cook stove to use for cooking. If dry conditions persist, the Forest Service could impose a ban on campfires at all times in the blowdown area.
Information on what areas are affected by the ban is available at all BWCAW entry points, all Superior National Forest offices and www.fs.fed.us/r9/superior.