Ham Lake Fire in the BWCA

More than 16,000 acres have burned in the area near and in the BWCA very close to where we put in on Seagull Lake this time last year. BWCA updates are available here. The photograph is from the Star-Tribune as well as the following from a report in the same paper on Monday the 7th:

"Authorities said they believed the fire started at a campsite on the northwest corner of Ham Lake, just outside the BWCA. It was reported around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. By Sunday evening, it had reached the Sea Gull Lake area within the BWCA, Berglund said.

The fire advanced on two different fronts Sunday. It headed north into the unpopulated BWCA. And it crossed over the Gunflint Trail directly west of the Seagull guard station at 1 p.m., officials said. Power was shut off past the guard station and the phone line past the station was lost.

A 1999 windstorm toppled millions of trees in and near the BWCA, and Berglund said some of the fire had reached the blowdown area, though previous controlled burns have reduced fuel loads in that direction. Sunday's evacuation triggered was part of a plan developed following the storm.

Northeastern Minnesota has been in a drought since last summer, and the federal Climate Prediction Center lists the area as being in severe drought now. No rain was expected for the next several days."

I heard a report from a fire ecologist on MPR who happened to be camping on 3 Mile Island in Seagull Lake. All of Minnesota had terrible winds over the time that the fire started, and he said he was unable to move because of the high waves on Seagull. And with 34 degree water temperature he couldn't risk capsizing. Last year wasn't anything so severe for us, but it was still pretty worrisome. The winds this weekend were very scary. The whole area is much drier than when we were there last year. Last summer and through the winter they have been in drought conditions.