A small forest fire is burning south of the Gunflint Trail in a remote section of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the general vicinity of Long Island Lake.
The fire was first noted on Friday in THIS media release from the Superior National Forest. There’s an update from this morning on the fire, HERE, on the Boreal Access web-site.
The fire near Lizard Lake was first spotted on August 26 by Forest Service personnel traveling on the Gunflint Trail. The fire is thought to have been cause by lightening from a storm seven to ten days earlier.
The initial Forest Service report on the fire said it was less than one-quarter of an acre in size and was smoldering on the ground with no open flames. The latest reports measure the fire at 51 acres, although unburned patches of vegatation remain within the boundaries of the fire.
Aircraft have dropped water on the northern and eastern perimeters of the fire. Additional water-drops are expected today, according to the Forest Service, to cool the northern and eastern perimeters of the fire in preparation for another day of hot, windy weather.
No closures to the BWCAW have been made due to the fire, and none are expected. The closest portages are the Rib Lake to Lower George Lake Portage, approximately three-fourths of a mile to the west, and the Lower George to Karl Lake Portage, approximately one-and-a-half miles to the southwest.
There’s a map of the fire area HERE.
The Lizard Lake fire is burning despite overall fire danger in Northeastern Minnesota being categorized as “Low” to “Moderate” by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. (Find their fire danger map HERE.)
Across the international border, however, fire danger in the neighboring Ontario districts are described as “High.” (See the Ontario fire danger map HERE.)