A view of the Pagami Creek fire from Polly Lake, looking west. Polly Lake is about 12 miles from Sawbill Outfitters in Tofte. Bill Hansen, co-owner of Sawbill Outfitters, was at his business when the Pagami Creek fire made its 16-mile “run” on Monday, Sept. 12. Hansen said the fire was about seven miles from his business at its closest point. It is hoped that recent rains will stop the fire from spreading.
Although the Pagami Creek fire never crossed the Lake-Cook County border, it came close and precautions were taken in case it did spread to Cook County. Several roads were closed to vehicles as well as Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) entry points, portages, and remote campsites in the Superior National Forest within Cook County. At press time there are still fire restrictions and closures, but with cooler temperatures and soaking rains, Arrowhead residents are starting to feel a little more comfortable about the fire smoldering to the west. No one is more relieved than Bill Hansen, who with his wife, Cindy, owns and operates Sawbill Canoe Outfitters in Tofte, which was directly in the path of the Pagami Creek fire when it made an unprecedented 16-mile run on Monday, Sept. 12, 2011.
“We are really, really, lucky,” said Bill Hansen, reached by phone at press time for an update on how things were going at the end of the Sawbill Trail. “We’re still here and we once again have the campground open.”
Hansen and a skeleton crew stayed at the outfitters to keep fire protection sprinklers running throughout the fire’s advance. He also continued to let the public know what was happening at Sawbill Outfitters through the blog http:// www.sawbill.com/www/news/newsletter/ and with his West End News piece on WTIP radio.
Hansen reported that he was nervous about the fire, which was detected in the Ely area on August 18. The wildfire was started by a lightning strike and had been creating clouds of smoke over the northland. It grew slowly but steadily until on September 12 the fire, according to U.S. Forest Service Superior National Forest Spokesperson Lisa Radosevich- Craig it became a “plume-driven event” which traveled 16 miles to the east, reaching the edge of Polly Lake.
Hansen said he knew the fire was close from the increase in smoke at Sawbill, but it wasn’t until he saw photos posted on Facebook by Hans Martin of the fire approaching Polly Lake that he realized how lucky he was. Polly Lake is about 12 miles from Sawbill Outfitters. The fire progression map shows that the fire came within seven miles of the outfitters.
“Looking at the pictures from Polly Lake, it was basically a fire tornado, literally a holocaust. If the wind had not changed, at the rate it was going, within an hour or hour and a half, it would have been here,” said Hansen.
“I was scared,” said Hansen, adding, “but until I saw those pictures, I didn’t know how scared I should have been!”
At press time, rain had fallen in Cook County and the fire danger was greatly reduced. Hansen said the outfitters had received a significant amount of rain and had pumped over 50,000 gallons of water through the fire protection sprinklers. “We’re actually kind of living in a swamp right now,” Hansen said.
In response to better weather conditions and the beginning of containment of the fire, on September 20, the U.S. Forest Service authorized the reopening of the Sawbill campground and BWCAW entry points to the east of the Sawbill Trail. The first canoeists headed out of Sawbill, to the east, on September 21.
Hansen reiterated how lucky he felt. “We lost eight days of business, but it could have been so much worse.” He had been especially worried about a 70-something-year-old couple who had headed into the BWCAW for a two-week trip on the Saturday before entry points were closed—planning to travel toward Kawishiwi Lake. None of the Forest Service ground personnel or aircrews saw any sign of the pair. Hansen was vastly relieved when they were spotted on Phoebe Lake on Tuesday, September 13 and brought out of the wilderness. “They had been on Polly Lake but had not been aware of the fire. They saw all the air activity, but didn’t realize anyone was looking for them.”
Hansen said the near-catastrophe drove home how lucky he is to live in this community. “The thing that amazed me was the number of people who called and said they have trucks and trailers and they could help us move stuff. We had literally hundreds of people offering help and offers of places to stay.
“That’s how it is in this community, but until you’re on the receiving end, you don’t realize how great that is,” said Hansen.
As for the fire, no one is breathing too deep a sigh of relief yet, especially the folks at Sawbill. Hansen said, “As far as we can tell, the fire is dormant near us right now. That said, it is possible that the fire could revive itself, but the chance of that happening diminish with each day that we advance toward winter.”
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