Nearly 150 firefighters from several Midwestern states began soaking the trails and brush of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness today in hopes of containing a fire that threatens part of the Gunflint Trail northwest of Grand Marais.
Doug Anderson, a fire information officer with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said the fire, less than a square mile in area as of 11 a.m. probably ''is not going to make a major run today.''
Nevertheless, he said, gusty winds today will make work ''very challenging'' for crews on the ground trying to set up a line to contain the fire.
The fire between Alpine and Seagull lakes is near the end of the Gunflint, where there are a number of resorts and cabins.
It apparently was one of several blazes that started when lightning struck during a July 30 storm.
The others ''didn't amount to anything,'' Anderson said. But this fire, ''sat and smoldered for about a week'' and ''came to life on a windy day.''
Anderson, working at a ranger station about seven miles from the fire, said crews attacked the fire aggressively over the past few days with water-scooping planes and will continue doing that today, dropping water every few minutes.
He said the fire's ''rate of spread'' had been relatively slow as a result.
''But the thing that could change it is the wind.''
Sunday was dry and relatively calm. But today is expected to be windier, he said, with only about a 20 percent chance of rain.
Anderson said fire crews began clearing trails this morning in hopes of establishing a line to contain the fire. He said crews are clearing brush, setting up pumps and sprinkler systems and soaking the perimeter in hopes of keeping the fire from spreading.
''We'll work it with the lines and hope to get it under control,'' he said. ''Today will be a challenging day.''
Once the perimeter is established, he said, crews will try over the next several days to set smaller blazes within the perimeter to eat up the main fire's potential fuel.
''It's a wilderness fire, and it's going to take a long time to wrestle with this,'' Anderson said. ''The fuels are real dry and it takes a long time for them to go out.''
The fire is in Superior National Forest, where millions of trees were downed by straight-line winds on July 4, 1999. This fire is on the northern edge of that blown-down area, Anderson said.
As of this morning, he said, there have been no evacuations from the BWCA. However, resort and cabin owners are on guard in the even conditions worsen.
''They've had plans for the evacuation ever since the blowdown,'' he said. ''Everyone is kind of prepared for this. Right now, it's not a big deal, but if we evacuate, it's a big deal.''Minneapolis Star Tribune
