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Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
As Camp House and Jenkins Creek fires fade, a new wildfire ignites in Minnesota
A small wildfire has developed in far northern Minnesota, with authorities saying the likely spark for the fire came from a lightning strike on Thursday, May 22. Called the Horse River Fire, it is currently 5-10 acres in size and located east of Horse River in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It is zero percent contained as of midday Friday. Smoke from the fire was detected on Thursday and an aerial survey revealed that the fire is burning in a remote area of the BWCA with "very poor" ground access. "The area is remote and over a mile off any canoe route, and is a mix of swamp and forested vegetation, so access is very challenging," authorities said. The forecast for the area calls for a high near 58 degrees on Friday, with winds out of the north at 5 mph, gusting to 15 mph. The low will drop to approximately 33 degrees overnight amid calm winds. The wind Saturday will also be calm, with a high temp around 60. The Horse River Fire started as the Camp House and Jenkins Creek fires are winding down. According to the Eastern Area Incident Management Team, all roads around the Camp House are now open and crews are "just doing cleanups" in the area. The Camp House Fire is 90% contained and has burned 12,071 acres. A total of 311 personnel continue to work the fire. There are still 271 personnel working the Jenkins Creek Fire, which is now 47% contained after burning 16,781 acres. "Helicopters remain assigned to support water drops, reconnaissance, or other fire response needs throughout the day," the management team said Friday. Saint Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsey noted Friday that campfires are "strongly discouraged" over Memorial Day weekend.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
MN wildfires: St. Louis County issues local emergency, disaster declarations
St. Louis County has declared a state of local emergency and state of local disaster in response to the wildfires that are ravaging part of Superior National Forest. The declarations are a "procedural step" that will allow the county to unlock state funding to pay for the ongoing response and recovery activities. It comes eight days after the Camp House Fire started, and a week since the Jenkins Creek Fire began during hot and dry conditions in northern Minnesota. As of Monday, the fires are still only partially contained, with gusty winds expected to impact suppression efforts this week. Thus far, more than 150 buildings have been destroyed by the fires. The declarations will be formally voted upon by the St. Louis County Board on Tuesday morning, with St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsey providing commissioners with an update on the wildfire response. The county says it continues to work with local cities and townships to conduct damage reports ahead of a submission for public disaster assistance to the Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM). On Monday, authorities said they made "great progress" towards containment of the Camp House Fire, which is now 40% contained as of Monday morning. The Jenkins Creek Fire, which remains at just over 16,000-acres, is only 6% contained, with work continuing to prevent spread to the Skibo and Hoyt Lakes area. The smaller Munger Shaw Road further south is now 95% contained, with the number of responders delegated to the fire now reducing to 3-5 staff starting at 6 a.m. Tuesday, with management fire transitioned to the local Cloquet Area DNR Forestry.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Evacuation order lifted for 1 of 3 wildfires in northern Minnesota
Residents living in the vicinity of one of three wildfires burning in St. Louis County have been told they can return home. The evacuation order was lifted for areas around the 1,600-acre Munger Shaw Fire, with the news confirmed on Thursday evening by St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsey. "It was lifted earlier this evening due to the more favorable weather conditions and successful work on preventing further spread, residents have been allowed to return to their properties beginning earlier tonight," Ramsey said. The fire is now considered 25% contained, according to a Friday update from the Minnesota Incident Command System. "I'm happy to report the Munger Shaw Fire was much better than it was the last few nights, and hopefully with the rain we received this evening we can take that one off the list," he added. "Residents will be able to come and go as they need." The storms that passed through northern Minnesota on Thursday evening dropped around three-quarters of an inch of rain in parts of the Iron Range, bringing much-needed relief to the dry conditions that helped fuel the fire. But the winds that preceded it caused significant concern for responders particularly those fighting the 15,000-acre Jenkins Creek Fire, which Ramsey said "did continue to expand" on Thursday. This expansion prompted changes to the evacuation zones, moving the City of Hoyt Lakes into the second-highest alert – "SET" – which recommends residents be prepared to evacuate if needed. "We had some worries this afternoon when that wind really picked up," Ramsey said. "The heavy wind was gusting to the 30s as the storm moved in, and we we heard there was a gust of 74mph in Hovland. "We were really concerned about that fire and what was happening with it, however the rain came and diminished the worries significantly for tonight (Thursday)." While evacuation zones are still in effect for the Jenkins Creek and Camp House fires, authorities said residents would be allowed to return to their homes temporarily during the day on Friday provided they check in with officials at Hugo's Bar in Brimson. They must be out of the homes by 8 p.m. BMTN Note: Weather events in isolation can't always be pinned on climate change, but the broader trend of increasingly severe weather and record-breaking extremes seen in Minnesota and across the globe can be attributed directly to the rapidly warming climate caused by human activity. The IPCC has warned that Earth is "firmly on track toward an unlivable world," and says greenhouse gas emissions must be halved by 2030 in order to limit warming to 1.5C, which would prevent the most catastrophic effects on humankind. You can read more here.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Minnesota wildfires day 5: Crews watching for risk of spread towards Hoyt Lakes
A "slow fire movement" day on Wednesday provided some much needed respite for residents of St. Louis County, but authorities continue to monitor potential spread of fires on Thursday, including to the City of Hoyt Lakes. St. Louis County Sheriff's Gordon Ramsey provided an update on the three major wildfires in the northeast of the state, which have so far burned in excess of 30,000 acres of Superior National Forest. The main progression on Wednesday came from the Jenkins Creek Wildfire, which remains the largest of the three, and moved to the north and the west over the course of the day. Sign up for our BREAKING NEWS newsletters The Jenkins Creek fire was estimated at 20,000 acres on Wednesday, though it appears this has been revised down on Thursday to around 15,500 acres. But responders will be watching Jenkins Creek "closely" again on Thursday, particularly the potential for morning winds to blow it further north and west, making a beeline for Hoyt Lakes, which has a population of just under 2,000. "While it's a significant distance [away], we're watching closely and the area is on alert. If you live in the area, keep an ear to what's going on, and be prepared in case it does start moving towards you," Ramsey said. Wednesday was a quieter day for the 15,000-acre Camp House Fire, with Ramsey saying there was a "little progress" southwest towards the Ault Town Hall, as well as into Lake County to the east, but there was otherwise "minimal fire spread," saying it was "definitely one of the slower days since it began on Sunday." There were evacuations to the southwest, where the 1,700-acre Munger Shaw Road fire is burning, with a "flare up" in the afternoon causing concern over some nearby residences. "The people who live in that area have been told to evacuate a number of times and then been allowed to go back," Ramsey said. "This was their third evacuation drill ... we appreciate the patience of residents in that area. We would rather err on the side of caution." Help could be on the way in the form of severe storms that could drop significant amounts of rain in northern Minnesota on Thursday with the system also bringing a cold front that should drop temperatures, but will also bring high winds.
12-05-2025
- Climate
9 million people under red flag warnings as fire danger envelops upper Midwest
At least 9 million people in the nation's upper Midwest region are under red flag warnings on Monday, including residents of Minnesota, where a wildfire was already burning out of control in the largest national forest east of the Mississippi River. Potentially record-high temperatures, wind gusts of up to 45 mph, low relative humidity and dry conditions are elevating the risk of wildfires spreading quickly across a large swath of the upper Midwest. Red flag warnings signaling wildfire danger have been issued for parts of Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana and nearly the entire state of Minnesota. As red flag warnings were issued, firefighters in Minnesota continued to battle the Camphouse Fire in the Superior National Forest near Brimson, about 40 miles north of Duluth. According to the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center, the Camphouse Fire, which started Sunday afternoon, grew overnight to more than 750 acres and was 0% contained. St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsey said at a Sunday night news conference that at least 20 residents in the area were evacuated. Ramsey said no injuries have been reported. Making matters worse for firefighters were high temperatures forecast for most of Minnesota. Temperatures in the Duluth area are expected to reach the 80s on Monday. Elsewhere in the upper Midwest, parts of North Dakota, including Bismarck, could break a record on Monday as temperatures are expected to climb to the mid-90s. Residents of northern North Dakota and northern Minnesota are both under a "major heat risk" as the forecast calls for the hottest May temperatures in the area since 1987. The temperature in Grand Forks, North Dakota, is expected to reach 97. The hot weather is also expected to spread to Texas on Tuesday. The cities of Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio are expected to surpass the century mark and could break daily temperature highs through the remainder of the week. The all-time record highs for May include 104 for both Austin and San Antonio. Meanwhile, 16 million people across the South, including residents of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Florida, are under flood watch warnings. Southeast Florida was under an elevated risk of excessive rainfall on Monday, with some parts forecast to receive up to 2 inches of rain per hour. Flash flooding is expected in urban areas of Southeast Florida, including Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
