|
Fire crews
extinguish several small fires
Rhonda Silence 6/25/07
Local firefighting personnel responded to three
separate fire incidents last week, near Gull
Lake, Moon Lake and along the Brule River. One
was caused by a tree on a power line; two were
ignited by
lightning strikes.
The fire
near Gull Lake on Wednesday, June 13 was the
largest and mobilized the largest response. It
was spotted by a U.S. Forest Service pilot in a
flight over the area. The plane, a Beaver was
able to conduct water drops immediately and the
Gunflint Trail Community Fire Department
responded. Tom Westby of the Forest Service said
the fire was right on the edge of the
Ham Lake
Fire. "The Gunflint Fire Department had a
pretty good handle on it by the time our crew
arrived," said Westby. The fire
was safely out by 3:55 p.m. Westby said it
burned about 3/4 of an acre. The
other two fires were ignited by
lightning strikes and were also spotted from
the air on the afternoon of Saturday, June 16.
Westby said the Forest Service plane flies over
the forest after every lightning storm. The
pilot first saw a tree on fire near Moon Lake,
on the north end of East Bearskin Lake. Then,
another was sighted east of Brule River, north
of Trout Lake. Fire crews hiked in to the fire
to put them out. "They were single trees, just
smoldering," said Westby. Westby
said such on-the-spot fire fighting is a routine
part of summer activities for local U.S. Forest
Service and Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) personnel. However, he
acknowledged that awareness of the hazards of
wildfire has been increased for Northland
residents after the
Ham Lake
wildfire in May. Many people will be
reassured to learn that fire crews are on
standby all summer long, conducting a variety of
projects. When a flyover detects a fire, they
are prepared to respond.
| 
