On Sunday, May 13, a page went out to the Grand Portage Fire Department at 10:48 p.m., reporting a house fire at 62 Margarets Road in Grand Portage. Everyone had safely exited the house, the caller said.
A Sheriff Deputy responded and informed Cook County Law Enforcement that there was smoke in the house, apparently coming from an exterior wall.
The Grand Portage Fire Department responded, as did a Grand Portage Forestry fire truck. The Grand Portage Ambulance responded to stand by. The fire was extinguished by 11:18 p.m.
The house suffered moderate damage.
The reporting party said she thought the fire had been started by an unattended burning cigarette.
In addition to a structure fire, there were a number of wildland fires in the county last week.
At 3:04 p.m. on Thursday, May 10, a Devil Track Lake resident spotted a tree on a power line on South Shore Road. The caller said the tree was smoking and a fire was starting underneath. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Forest Service were paged and arrived on scene at 3:43 p.m. The fire had spread into nearby spruce and was climbing; however, it was knocked down and contained by 3:56 p.m. The DNR was clear of the scene by 4:34 p.m.
There were two grass fires on Sunday, May 13. At 6:32 p.m. the Grand Marais Fire Department was paged to respond to a fire at 61 County Road 48 in Grand Marais. Two U.S. Forest Service engines and firefighters with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources also responded. Grand Marais First Responders and Cook County Ambulance responded to be on standby.
The fire was caused by trees falling on power lines and causing sparks. The fire was extinguished and all emergency responders were released from the scene by 6:52 p.m.
U.S. Forest Service Tofte and Gunflint District Fire Management Officer Mark Lawler said the fire burned about 1/10th of an acre.
Lawler said there was another fire in Grand Marais on Sunday, May 13 in a gravel pit in the Junco Creek area. He said the Forest Service responded and it was quickly extinguished, burning approximately 1/10th of an acre. Lawler said the fire was human caused, but how it started is not known.
Lutsen Fire Chief Paul Goettl reported on another fire to the Lutsen town board at the May 15 town meeting. Goettl said there was a small wildfire across from Arrowhead Electric on Monday, May 14. Goettl said his department and a crew from the U.S. Forest Service responded to the fire that was below Highway 61 near the lake. Goettl said, “It was about a ¼ of an acre but it was burning pretty good.”
Fire Management Officer Mark Lawler said the Lutsen fire was believed to have been caused by allterrain vehicle (ATV) operators.
There was yet another fire on Monday, May 14, on the east end of the county, on the Arrowhead Trail. A property owner in the area smelled smoke and headed down to the Hovland Post Office to call to report a possible fire. A page went out to the DNR at about 1 p.m. that a fire was burning near the white pine plantation along the Arrowhead. DNR Forestry Firefighter Aaron Mielke and a crew were working about five miles down the road, clearing a culvert that had been blocked by beavers, so they were able to respond rapidly.
The DNR maintained a five-person crew at the scene, extinguishing, then watching the site on May 15. DNR Firefighter Aaron Mielke said they were returning on Wednesday, May 16 to retrieve equipment and to once again ensure that the fire was out.
The fire burned about 2½ acres, but Mielke said the area had been thinned about four or five years ago, so he did not expect any mortality in the old white pines. Mielke said the fire is human caused and is under investigation.
At press time on Wednesday, May 16, the News-Herald caught up with Fire Management Officer Mark Lawler during a multi-jurisdictional annual fire safety refresher. In attendance were Forest Service, DNR and local fire department personnel, as well as some local heavy equipment operators who may be called to service in a large wildfire. Asked if the Pagami Creek wildfire had flared up this spring, Lawler said no. Forest Service crews are working in the area, however, conducting wilderness campsite cleanup and rehab. “They are opening some and closing some,” said Lawler.
On May 16, Lawler said there were no fires currently burning. However, he stressed that fire danger was high. “We’ve had high to very high fire conditions for the last few days,” he said, adding, “It’s an earlier fire season than average because of the lack of snow this winter.”
DNR’s Mielke concurred. “We watch the same indices—we’re high as well. The rain in March and April helped some, but we need a lot more rain.”
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