Three U.S. Forest Service employees updated the Cook County board about the condition of the Pagami Creek fire on September 20, 2011. The fire, first sighted on August 18, was believed to have been started by lightning in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) about 14 miles from Ely.
Wally Bennett of the Northern Rockies Type I (“hotshot”) unit said the number one priority in dealing with the fire is firefighter and public safety. Only one injury had been reported so far—a snag came down on a dozer operator the day before and broke his leg. They conducted an hour-long “safety stand-down” to refresh personnel on safety precautions. Falling trees are a continuing concern.
Because of rain, Bennett said, a lot of the firefighters got really wet, and they were in the process of getting them dried out. “We’re trying to look out for the welfare of the firefighters,” he said.
The second priority was to be in unified command with Cook and Lake counties, said Bennett. “We have been working very closely with [Cook County] Sheriff Falk,” he said.
The third priority was to contain the fire. It was 23 percent contained on September 20, but by the next day that number was up to 30 percent, right on target with a goal of gaining 5 to 7 percent containment per day. His team hoped they could contain all or most of the fire by September 26 or 27 when their tour was over.
Because of smoke, the size of the fire had been difficult to determine, and it was downsized from an estimated 100,000 acres to 93,669 as of September 21, of which 9,274 acres were outside the wilderness. The fire was 97 miles in perimeter. Its biggest surge was caused by a west wind. “There’s still a lot of fire around the perimeter of this thing,” Bennett said. Some of the fire had spread south of the BWCAW, in which case the Forest Service follows different procedures. The fire had been following the wind.
According to the federal government’s incident website (www.inciweb.org/incident/2534), 781 personnel were assigned to the job as of September 21. This involved five helicopters, 23 engines, seven dozers, three water tenders, six hotshot crews, 12 Type 2 crews, and two camp crews. Bennett said the effort also currently involved six fixed-wing aircraft.
“This is well within the capability of the team,” said Bennett. “We have some of the best in the country.” Having more personnel on hand would make the work less efficient, he said.
Firefighters were trying to keep the fire from reaching the county line. At that point, it was smoldering and creeping. “It’s holding heat and not moving,” said Operation Section Chief Andy Mitchell.
A structure protection group was working with area volunteer firefighters, Bennett said, cleaning gutters and installing sprinkler systems around homes. Old logging roads were being opened to provide access to the fire.
Governor Dayton had been to see the fire twice, Bennett said. At that point, $3.3 million had been spent fighting it.
Some Cook County roads were closed for a time. “We’re trying to get people back in where we can,” said Bennett.
As of September 21, the Inciweb update said the difficulty of the terrain was high but the fire’s potential for growth was low.
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