BWCA firefighters get a breather

Ground fire crews were sent infor the first time Tuesday after officials deemed some areas safe for them to work.

By Larry Oakes, Star Tribune

Last update: July 18, 2006 - 11:52 PM

ALONG THE GUNFLINT TRAIL -- Tuesday was a smoky but welcome breather for the growing army fighting the Cavity Lake wildfire -- a day with little wind and only moderate growth of the largest fire to strike the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in decades.

But firefighters were bracing for strong winds predicted for today, mindful that any significant eastward expansion of the fire already covering more than 23 square miles could force out hundreds of people who are living, working or vacationing at the end of the Gunflint Trail.

Meanwhile, the fire's expansion Monday to within a mile of the border has prompted Canadian authorities to offer expertise and equipment, including two helicopters used to start "control" fires Tuesday in an attempt to rob the fire of fuel in key areas.

"If the fire reaches a certain point, the Canadians said they may send us four or five fire crews," said Joe Fields, a spokesman from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Despite Tuesday's respite, growing concern about the fire in the BWCA prompted wilderness managers Tuesday to close more lakes, trails and entry points and impose a 24-hour fire ban in portions of the wilderness damaged by a severe windstorm on July 4, 1999.

Sea Gull Lake, Round Lake and Red Rock Lake in the vicinity of the fire are closed to boaters, as are Red Rock and Devil's Walk bays of Saganaga Lake. Closed entry points now include Cross River, Missing Link Lake, Brandt Lake, and Kekekabic Trail East. Two hiking trails -- the Border Route and Kekekabic east of Disappointment Lake, were closed until further notice. The closures also included a dozen portages in and around the fire.

Though the fire is limited to a relatively small part of the BWCA, smoke from its wind-whipped expansion cast a thick haze Tuesday across a significant portion of Minnesota's Arrowhead. Motorists on the North Shore highway turned on their headlights Tuesday to make their vehicles more visible, as they would in fog.

In spite of the concerns, Gunflint Trail outfitters reiterated Tuesday that they are open for business, and the Forest Service assured campers that they needn't cancel their BWCA trips.

Taking fire in stride

Several Gunflint Trail vacationers said they were treating the fire as part of their wilderness experience and planned to stay unless or until officials recommend an evacuation.

Dr. Gil Westreich of Minneapolis sat in a lawn chair outside his rented cabin at Tuscarora Lodge, a book in his lap. The wilderness vista before him included a placid lake, a line of trees on the opposite shore, and, behind that, a dark column of smoke from the fire two or three miles away.

Hoses from a temporary emergency sprinkler system ran from the lake to the tops of the resort's buildings -- a precaution against the possibility that an unlucky wind could bring the fire to the lodge's doorstep.

Westreich said lodge owners Andy and Sue Ahrendt had been keeping them informed ever since the fire began with a lightning strike Friday and explaining what would trigger an evacuation. Westreich said he trusted them and the Forest Service to decide if and when they must leave.

Fire information officer Mike Martin said that officials were pleased with how the fire has slowed down in places near the Gunflint that were burned in recent years to reduce blown-down timber.

"In the prescribed burns it's slowing down significantly," Martin said. "It's not stopping by any means, but it makes it a much more defensible spot."

The fire burned so erratically in the heavy "blow-down" that until Monday, only planes were used to fight the fire. But on Tuesday, about 70 firefighters were sent into areas considered safe. About 50 were preventing a portion of the fire on Three Mile Island in Sea Gull Lake from "spotting" forward. In addition, a crew of 18 canoed to the Red Rock Lake area on the fire's northern flank, to attack flare-ups caused by flying embers.

The crew, armed with pumps, 4,000 feet of hose, chain saws and hand tools, was assigned to stay in that area for seven days, said crew boss William (B.J.) Glesener, a Department of Natural Resources forester from Bemidji.

"We should smell pretty bad by then," one of the crewmen said as he prepared to leave.

Larry Oakes • 1-218-727-7344

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