Forest Service: Superior wildfire that started with prescribed burn contained

A wildfire in northern Minnesota that began when a prescribed burn went out of control this week has been fully contained by as of Saturday evening, according to Superior National Forest rangers.

Fire crews have secured all edges of the 209-acre wildfire, according to a statement Sunday from the U.S. Forest Service’s Tofte Ranger District. They spent much of Saturday mopping up hot spots, dousing smoldering stumps and working to cool the area and strengthen control lines.

“The fire containment was increased to 100% yesterday evening as crews completed their work and feel confident that the edge of the fire will not move,” the Forest Service said Sunday. “Containment means more than just constructing control line around a fire. After firefighting resources construct control line, the next step is to remove wildland fuel available to burn and/or extinguish sources of heat by mopping up. These actions are taken to secure control lines and prevent the fire from escaping under the current and expected weather forecast. Once secure, that area of the fire is considered contained.

“This firefighting work has been completed and the fire is now in patrol status,” the agency said.

The fire began Wednesday afternoon after it grew from a prescribed burn area north of Hwy. 1 to just over 200 acres near the Little Isabella River Campground in Lake County, about midway between Ely and Silver Bay.

The Forest Service has been conducting several controlled burns in the area to try to eliminate some of the dead wood and fuel loads that have been building up over the last several dry years, and made worse by an unprecedented spruce budworm outbreak that has killed off millions of balsam firs.

Crews burned 159 acres on Wednesday in the Slim Lake South Unit northwest of Ely, and recently finished a 390-acre burn near the Gunflint Trail.

The Superior wildfire posed no threat to private property, according to the Forest Service.

Crews dumped water on it from aircraft on Wednesday, and light rain and cloud cover on Thursday and Friday helped keep the flames subdued. It showed little signs of activity on Saturday, aside from occasional creeping and smoldering, according to the Forest Service.

“The fire is not actively pushing in any direction,” rangers wrote in a statement. “Fire activity is expected to remain minimal.”