Wildfires prompt evacuations in northeastern Minnesota
Crews in northeastern Minnesota are battling three wildfires on Monday.
By Anthony Bettin, Nick Lentz, Stephen Swanson
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Minnesota (WCCO) — Crews in northeastern Minnesota are battling three wildfires on Monday, two of which have grown to thousands of acres in size.
Camp House Fire
As of Monday afternoon, the size of the fire near Brimson, Minnesota — called the Camp House Fire — is about 1,250 acres, according to Minnesota Incident Command System. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service “are using full suppression tactics,” MNICS said.
The fire first broke out Saturday afternoon in Ault Township, about 40 miles north of Duluth, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office said.
Several dozen residents were evacuated due to the fire. As of Monday evening, the sheriff’s office estimated that at least 40 structures have been destroyed.
Officials are asking the public to avoid the area. Evacuation orders will remain in effect through Monday, the sheriff said. So far, no injuries have been reported.
Highway 44 between Indian Creek Road and Brimson Road north of Hugo’s Bar will be closed to traffic, according to officials.
Gov. Tim Walz on Monday authorized the Minnesota National Guard to help fight the Camp House fire. The Guard will be assisting the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and local agencies with fire suppression efforts, state officials said in a release.
Jenkins Creek Fire
The U.S. Forest Service announced on Monday evening that a second wildfire — named the Jenkins Creek Fire — has grown to 1,500 acres in size near Hoyt Lakes, about 30 miles northwest of the Camp House Fire. The federal agency says the fire has been spreading to the north and slightly northeast.
Officials say aircraft are being used to battle the fire, and the Forest Service Cadotte Lake Campgrounds have been evacuated out of precaution.
Nearly the entire state of Minnesota is under a red flag warning on Monday for elevated fire risk conditions. A similar warning was in place on Sunday. An air quality alert due to ozone pollution is also affecting much of the state.
Teri Juntti is the operations manager of Whiteface and Cadotte Lake Campgrounds, which are located between the Camp House Fire and Jenkins Creek Fire. She received a call from St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay to evacuate.
“He said, ‘Yeah, I think it’s time to evacuate,'” Juntti said. “So we ran over there, my husband and I ran over there real quick, and I had, there’s two campers there, and we brought both of them over to wake base, to keep them safe.”
The campgrounds feature 27 campsites, a dock and several buildings. Juntti says she and her husband have owned the property for ten years.
Munger Shaw Fire
Just after 5 p.m. Monday, Ramsay posted on X that a fire — labeled by law enforcement as the Munger Shaw Fire — was burning on both sides of Munger Shaw Road near Three Lakes Road near Shaw.
Ramsay had called in the post for residents in the eastern half of Cotton Township to evacuate, though an online evacuation map provided by the sheriff’s office said on Monday night there wasn’t an active advisory in the area.
The size of the Munger Shaw Fire wasn’t immediately known.
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