‘Tinderbox conditions’ fuel fire in Superior National Forest

ISABELLA, Minn. — Officials in the Superior National Forest said Thursday that the ongoing drought has created “tinderbox conditions” in northeastern Minnesota as firefighters continue to battle an uncontained wildfire, while rain that’s expected to fall in coming days is unlikely to provide much help to crews who are growing tired.

Crews have been working on fighting and suppressing wildfires since the spring, and Minnesota’s wildfire season is not likely to end until snowfall.

“These are just tinderbox conditions,” Superior National Forest Supervisor Connie Cummins said during a situation update for Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and Gov. Tim Walz.

The Greenwood Lake fire has already burned 25,991 acres (40.61 square miles) in Minnesota’s Arrowhead region. Incident Commander Brian Pisarek said 12 seasonal homes or cabins are among the more than 50 structures that have been lost. Pisarek said about 300 people are currently evacuated.

“We got a little bit of rain today so we don’t expect much fire growth today,” he said Thursday, adding that firefighters are using the day to prepare for winds that are expected to come on Monday. So far, more than 400 firefighters are working to contain the fires, and more help has been requested.

But Pisarek said rain that’s expected to fall in the area over the next few days is not likely to help much with containment.

“One of our tactics is to remove the fuel in front of the fire on the east side, and this rain, of course, inhibits us from doing that,” he said. “You’d think rain would be the best thing we could get — but timing of the timing of the rain is also critical to our operation.”

“This firefight is dependent on the weather,” he added.

Meanwhile, one North Carolina family is questioning whether they did enough to mitigate fire risks on land they own, as the drought-stricken forest had been already weakened by an outbreak of spruce budworm, which decimated the area’s balsam fir trees.

Robert C. Hayes Jr., of Charlotte, North Carolina, whose extended family owns about 12,350 acres, or 20 square miles, at the Greenwood Lake fire site, told the Star Tribune: “I’m afraid to go up there because the pictures I’ve seen. It’s just scorched.” A Star Tribune analysis of property records shows more than half of the Hayes’ forest land appears to be inside the fire perimeter.

Duluth photographer and writer Michael Furtman likened the situation to throwing a match on acres of driedout Christmas trees. Furtman, who owns a cabin on Middle McDougal Lake, adjacent to the Hayes property, said he and his wife spent an estimated $2,000 to hire workers to cut down dead trees and remove potential tinder.

“The individual small landowners are doing everything they can, and can afford,” Furtman said. “Has the wealthy landowner done everything he can and can afford?”

Hayes called those questions “reasonable.”

“We are actively asking that of ourselves,” he said.