A wildfire in northern Minnesota that started when a prescribed burn went out of control this week was almost fully contained Saturday afternoon, Superior National Forest Rangers said.
Firefighters have secured nearly all edges of the 209-acre wildfire, according to a statement from the U.S. Forest Service’s Tofte Ranger District. They spent much of Saturday clearing hot spots, dousing smoldering stumps and cooling the area and reinforcing control lines.
The fire started Wednesday afternoon after growing out of a prescribed burn area north of Hwy. 1 to just over 200 acres near the Little Isabella River Campground in Lake County, about halfway between Ely and Silver Bay.
The Forest Service has conducted several controlled burns in the area to try to eliminate some of the deadwood and fuel loads that have accumulated in recent dry years and have been exacerbated by an unprecedented spruce bud outbreak that has killed millions of people cost. of balsam fir.
Crews burned 159 acres Wednesday in the Slim Lake South Unit northwest of Ely, and recently completed a 390-acre fire near the Gunflint Trail.
The Superior wildfire did not pose a threat to private property, according to the Forest Service.
Crews dumped water on it from planes on Wednesday, and light rain and cloud cover on Thursday and Friday helped keep the flames under control. According to the Forest Service, it showed little sign of activity on Saturday, other than occasional crawling and smoldering.
“The fire is not actively moving in any direction,” rangers wrote in a statement. “Fire activity is expected to remain minimal.”
