BWCA fire 45 percent contained

08/16/2005

Star Tribune
August 16, 2005

Firefighters made substantial gains against the two-week old Alpine Lake wildfire burning in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on Monday, and their lines held despite winds as high as 30 miles per hour.

The fire has charred about 2 square miles since lightning set the area ablaze July 30.

By Monday night, the fire was considered 45 percent contained, up from 35 percent Sunday, said Doug Anderson, an information officer with the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center in Grand Rapids.

No one has been forced to leave the area because of the fire, and all BWCA entry points are open.

Anderson said fire officials should have a date for when the fire will be 100 percent contained in the next day or two.

Dewey Hanson, another fire center spokesman, said the 268 people fighting the fire “did a fantastic job” Monday, securing more than a half-mile of the containment line on the north side of the fire.

“Tomorrow we should be able to finish that northern line, and if we get that finished we’ve got it in a pretty good box,” he said.

Helicopters were able to drop water on hot spots within the lines and officials did not need to call in the water-scooping planes that are standing by, he said.

Hanson said a sprinkler line set up east of the fire should prevent it from reaching cabins and businesses near the end of the Gunflint Trail.