Acreages from a fire system that exploded in a day and has grown in the three days since now totals nearly 69,000 acres.
Fires in the Quetico Park have greatly exceeded that amount, totaling nearly 200,000 acres. The largest are listed as Forest Fire 15 at 119,255 acres and Forest Fire 13 at 74,131 acres.
This is a breakdown of the Superior National Forest fires and acreages in the Ely area as of noon on Thursday.
The fires originated from a lightning storm that passed through the area and a week later has created forest fires on both sides of the border.
Little Knife Fire:
The Little Knife Fire sparked early this week from across the Ontario border as burned 6,000 acres in Minnesota as of Thursday morning. It prompted evacuation orders along the Gunflint in Cook County.
Camp Fire:
The Camp Fire continues to expand and exhibit extreme fire behavior. This incident expanded over Wednesday night to 4,175 acres by Thursday morning. Firefighters are working to protect structures and suppress the flames.
Bear Trap Fire:
Bear Trap has now expanded into Ontario, reaching a sizable burn footprint of 34,421 acres as of a midday update on Thursday. Authorities have reported crowning, torching and spotting behavior — all signaling the fire’s intensity. Bear Trap merged with the Dark Fire on Wednesday.
Thumb Fire:
Near Lac La Croix, the Thumb Fire reached 12,394 acres as of Thursday morning around 10 a.m. The fire remains active, as of a Wednesday afternoon update on InciWeb. That afternoon, aircraft were on the fire for suppression efforts.
Wolfpack and Sioux Fires: Authorities reported at a press conference Wednesday that the Wolfpack and Sioux fires had merged. The National Interagency Fire Center reported the Sioux Fire’s size at 10,838 acres. This incident has led to the Echo Trail’s closure along its northern reaches near Lake Jeanette State Forest.
The acreage burned among these five main fires totals to about 67,828, per the Watch Duty app.
