The fire danger was extremely high in the early summer of 1997, as evidenced by this old-fashioned Smokey Bear sign in the Superior National Forest outside of Grand Marais. The signs were changed daily to alert campers and hikers when conditions call for extra caution, but as the Herald observed, “the signs seem stuck on ‘extreme.’” In fact, the Forest Service said the preceding two weeks were hotter and drier than during the same period in 1996 and 1995— both years that produced extremely serious fires.
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