Thick smok eobscures Lake Superior shoreline Eight cabins and homes gone. Fire burned five days between the Stewart River and the Silver Creek Cliff tunnel. The lakeshore State Highway 61 was closed between Two Harbors and Siver Bay.
One returning homeowner found only concrete steps
TWO HARBORS, Minn. — The Stewart Trail wildfire along Lake Superior was pronounced fully contained at 350-plus acres but only after destroying eight homes and cabins and 30 outbuildings. Crews remained around the entire perimeter. They focused on hotspots that could flare up. A two-mile stretch of State Highway 61 between Two Harbors and Silver Bay, closed since Friday, has reopened. Some county roads remained blocked for firefighter platoons to maneuver with their heavy equipment. Residents who had been a evacuated, 42 total, were allowed back in. The fire has been blamed on a downed powerline near Betty’s Pies, a favorite tourist stop.
Tinder dry season
The Minnesota Natural Resources Department has logged 733 wildfires so far this year. Most have been recent and small and quickly extinguished. The largest — the Flanders Lake Fire in Crow Wing County — is at 1,700 acres.