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More than 100 people crowded into the Schaap Community Center on Monday, August 30, to get an update on the nearby wildfires.
Forest Service personal explained that the Whelp fire was 50 acres while the John Ek fire was 1,339.
Both fires were believed to have started by lighting and are located in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Neither fire was contained at the time of this report.
The much larger Greenwood Fire located in Lake County had burned 26,000 acres as of August 31. The forest service listed it as 37 percent contained.
This past Tuesday, BWCAW wildfire crews worked to identify areas that would provide a safe way in and out and identified sites for sprinkler systems. Fireline locations were located so crews could begin working on fire suppression from a safe distance, and aircraft were used to monitor and suppress the Whelp fire.
The John Ek fire is burning 2.5 miles south of Little Saganaga Lake and extends from the John Ek Lake to the southeast corner of Elton Lake. The Whelp fire is burning five miles northwest of Sawbill Lake.
Residents, cabin owners and visitors on the upper Gunflint Trail from the south side of Loon Lake west to the end of the Gunflint Trail remain in pre-evacuation status. Therefore, there is no mandatory evacuation in the county currently.
The forest service recommends that homeowners in Cook County sign up for the emergency alert system CodeRED at www.co.cook. mn.us/index.php/2016-04- 14-15-58-03. In addition, the Cook County Sheriff ’s Office recommends that residents and visitors be in “ready” mode for eventual evacuation.
The weather forecast for September 1-14 on the Gunflint Trail suggests the potential for “patchy rain” nine days out of the next 14.
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