A
watchful eye has been on on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
since July 4, 1999, when over 400,000 acres of forest were
blown down. A fire broke out this weekend at Alpine
Lake, located just West of the end of the historic Gunflint
Trail and Sea Gull Lake. While this is definitely not
the first fire in the BWCA since the blowdown, the Alpine Lake
Fire may be grabbing more attention as it is in an area that
received some of the worst damage in the '99 blowdown.
August 14, 2005 11:00AM
OPERATIONS CONTINUE AND CONFIDENCE BUILDING ON ALPINE LAKE
FIRE
The Alpine Lake fire with the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Wilderness, 50
miles northwest of Grand Marais continues to burn. The
interior of the
fire is smoldering and individual trees are torching, and some
surface fire
is occurring. Helicopter bucket work was used to cool hot
spots and this
was the first day the CL-215s were not required to suppress
any portion of
this fire. Good progress was made on the east side with hose
lays and
direct attack. There are 45 boats and 40 canoes transporting
fire crews
and supplies to the fire, and that number will probably
increase. Minimal
rainfall was received on the fire Saturday evening.
Light-on-the-land fire fighting methods are being used to
minimize the
firefighting impact on the wilderness environment.
Level
II Fire Restrictions are in effect in the restricted (blowdown)
area
of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Some campsites
remain closed
and will be re-opened as safety allows. All BWCAW entry points
are open.
Today firefighters will continue to mop up firelines and
put out the fire
in critical areas. The Fire Team is providing information to
local
residents, homeowners, businesses along the Gunflint Trail, as
well as
recreation users. The daily meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m.
at the
Blankenburg Landing Fire Hall.
There will be a public meeting Monday, August 15, at 7:00
p.m. at the
Grand Marais Community Center.
Safety of personnel, residents and visitors is the top
priority.
Date Started:8/06/2005
Cause:Lightning Current Size: 1335
acres
Location:NE MN, near the end of the Gunflint Trail between
Alpine, Seagull,
Red Rock and Grandpa Lakes
Estimated Containment: Date
unknown Percent Containment:33%
Cost to Date:$1,400,000 Wilderness
Camp-sites Closed:18 Personnel: 244
Command:Unified Stegmeier's MNICS Type 2 Incident Management
Team/USFS/MN
DNR/Cook County Sheriff
Cooperating Agencies:Gunflint VFD, National Wx Service, MnDOT
and
Interagency crews from WV, IN, OH, and MO.
