On August 5, Phase 5 of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) reopening plan went into effect, meaning 67% of the wilderness is now open to recreation.
New overnight entry points in both the Kawishiwi and LaCroix Ranger Districts are now available, including access points off Fernberg Road.
“In those areas, we believe that folks can come up and have a high-quality wilderness recreational experience,” said Superior National Forest Supervisor Drew Stroberg.
Four entry points will remain closed through the end of September: Blandin Trail, Little Indian Sioux River North, Sioux-Hustler Trail and Stuart River.
By Thursday morning, 70,384 acres had burned in northern Minnesota.
The Bear Trap Fire is still the largest of the five main fires managed by the Eastern Area team, having burned 29,764 acres as of Thursday morning.
The Thumb Fire totaled to 17,693 acres on Thursday, sitting at 50% containment.
The Wolfpack Fi re reached 6,235 acres at 23% containment, while the Sioux Fire’s footprint reached 7,094 acres and sat at 21% containment.
The Camp Fire is the smallest of the five with a footprint of 4,359 acres and 64% containment.
Combined with the Chub Fire, these five wildfires have cost nearly $44 million and counting.
As of a press conference on Tuesday, 570 miles of fireline had reached containment, while another 378 miles along the fire footprints remained uncontained.
No structures have been lost to the fires, though 1,043 are still in “ready” status and 713 are in a “set” zone. Just 10 structures are at the “go” level of evacuation preparedness.
The Eastern Area Complex Incident Management Team has now taken over command of the fires from the Southern Area Complex Incident Management Team.
Eastern Area Operations Section Chief Cory Henry said firefighters are applying a full suppression strategy, with direct attacks and continued implementation of a shaded fuel break along the Echo Trail.
A Thursday summary from the National Interagency Fire Center totaled the number of personnel responding to the fires at 987.
The July Lightning Event fires are still listed at the highest level of national preparedness, level 5. Though many wildfires have taken off around the country in recent weeks, Minnesota’s fires are still highly competitive when tapping national resources.
Firefighters have faced challenges navigating northern Minnesota’s unique environment, including falling trees whose roots have burned in the area’s shallow soils.
“This is one of the very few places in the Lower 48, maybe the only place, where we have a boreal forest,” Stroberg said. “These folks are not used to working in these areas.”
Stroberg does not anticipate any imminent threats within the majority of the wilderness over the next several weeks as fire efforts continue.
Officials have been working through a glide path plan to continuously de-escalate the wildfires after the Eastern Area Complex Incident Management Team’s term expires in coming weeks.
