Black smoke obscures a forested slope. Strong winds in weather forecasts are worrying firefighters. Image: Superior National Forest
Forests vulnerable after unusually dry winter
FAIRBANKS, Minn. – A hotshot firefighting team from Tennessee arrived to help battle three giant wildfires in parched northern Minnesota. So far 37,000 acres have been ravaged. Some 140 structures, mostly seasonal cabins, have been destroyed. There have been no fatalities. Residents have been ordered to evacuate. Many roads are closed to facilitate forestry crews and their equipment. The fires all are in the Minnesota Arrowhead:
> Jenkins Creek Fire (near Fairbanks, population 10 year-round): fire at 15,570 acres.
> Camp House Fire (near Brimson, population 40 year-round): 14,980 acres.
> Munger Shaw Fire (near Cotton, population 60 year-round)): 1,700 acres.
The fires are separated by many miles. A convergence seems unlikely. There are dozens of lesser wildfires in the state. The only southeast Minnesota wildfire has been at Log Deck a few miles west of Frontenac in Goodhue County at less than an acre.
Remote but not unpopulated. The largest fires are in St. Louis County, which stretches from Duluth 140 miles north to Canada.