Minnesota
Wildfires burn 20K+ acres NE Minnesota
More than 20,000 acres have burned in northeastern Minnesota in several large and uncontained wildfires.
The three largest fires are mainly in St. Louis County. According to authorities, the Camp House Fire near Brimson, which began Sunday afternoon, has burned an area approximately 12,000 acres.
It is northwest of Duluth.
The flames also destroyed more than 40 buildings including homes and cabins according to St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay.
Evacuations have continued throughout the last two days.
Called the Jenkins Creek Fire, it has consumed 6,800 acres. It is about five miles away from the Camp House Fire but is its own separate fire, said Patty Thielen, the Minnesota DNR Director of Forestry. The fire started on Monday.
The smallest of the three, the Munger Shaw Fire, spread to 1,400 acres. It also started on Monday.
Dry fuels, drought, and warm temperatures are contributing factors that led to the fires, DNR Resources Commissioner Sarah Strommen said.
This year, she said Minnesota has seen 970 fires on more 37,000 acres.
She stressed the importance of people being aware of burning restrictions from the DNR along with Red Flag warnings from the National Weather Service.
“With a critical potential for fires, every wildfire puts life and property at risk if not quickly extinguished. As you can see, our resources are stretched across the state.”
A combination of local, state, and federal resources is working to contain the fires.
