Cook County Law Enforcement received a call from a resident at 210 Bloomquist Mountain Road in Grand Marais at 10:25 a.m. on Sunday, April 26 reporting a grass fire getting out of control
The Colvill, Hovland and Maple Hill fire departments, Colvill and Hovland First Responders, Cook County Ambulance, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Forest Service were paged and started to respond.
Colvill Fire Department was on scene at 10:45 a.m. and the Minnesota DNR was on scene at 10:49 a.m. The Maple Hill Fire Department STOP team was requested for traffic control on Bloomquist Mountain Road and County Road 14 at 10:41 a.m. and began to respond, but was cancelled at 10:54.
The grass fire was extinguished and all emergency responders were clear of the scene at 11:42 a.m.
Colvill Fire Chief Tom Thompson said the fire was caused when some cardboard boxes being burned by the resident blew into the woods. Thompson said the man and the adjacent property owners did a good job getting the fire out. He said about ½ – ¾ acres were burned.
According to the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center, the majority of wildfires in Minnesota begin in grass or other fine fuels including standing dead vegetation in fields, swamps and other open areas. These fuels dry out in a matter of hours. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fire managers urge caution when working with equipment that can cause sparks, outdoor boilers and campfires.
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