St. Louis County wildfires grow overnight, now burning thousands of acres
First responders continue to battle three large, uncontained wildfires in northern Minnesota, two of which rapidly expanded overnight.
On Tuesday morning, the online tracker Watch Duty showed the Jenkins Creek Fire has grown to over 6,800 acres in size and is 0% contained. That fire was at 1,500 acres at 4 a.m. Tuesday.
The Munger Shaw/Three Lakes Road Fire has burned roughly 1,600 acres, as of 6:09 p.m. Tuesday, while the Camp House Fire — also known as the Brimson Fire — is now over 12,000 acres in size and has burned through 140 structures, including more than 40 houses.
Combined, these three fires have now burned about 20,000 acres, or 31 square miles. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says 970 fires have cropped up statewide on more than 37,000 acres so far this spring.
Fueling the fires are dry vegetation, warm temperatures, high winds and persisting drought conditions. Budworm-infested spruce trees are particularly susceptible, says Ryan Williams, Camp House Fire incident commander trainee for the Minnesota Incident Command System.
Patty Thielen, director of the Forestry Division of the Minnesota DNR, said dry and windy weather Tuesday and Wednesday will continue to complicate firefighting efforts, but she was hopeful cooler temperatures and possible rain later in the week would help turn the tide.
“There’s still gonna be a lot of work to do, but that will allow suppression to be a little bit easier,” Thielen said. “Again, these fires are 0% contained so far, and we’re working hard towards containment.”
With an increase in wildfires nationwide, firefighting resources are stretched thin.
The U.S. Forest Service reported in April that it had hired 9,131 wildland firefighters, just 81% of their total goal for the 2025 season. That’s up from 76% this time last year.
But officials say the fire season in Minnesota is expanding.
“Over the last several years, it’s the fire seasons have started earlier,” said Patty Thielen, the Minnesota DNR Director of Forestry. “We’ve had fires in February, we’ve had fires in January.”
A review of data from the National Interagency Fire Center shows the number of reported fires in Minnesota are up significantly from three years ago.
In 2022, at this time, the state had reported 265 fires, the first of which started in March. Year to date, Minnesota has seen 970 wildfires. The earliest was reported on January 6.
As reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on Monday, Gov. Tim Walz has authorized the National Guard to help fight the Camp House Fire. The National Guard sent two aircraft on Monday and followed up with two more helicopters on Tuesday — a Chinook and a Black Hawk with hoist capabilities for aerial rescues.
Support is also coming in from around the country and even across the border. Thielen said agencies in Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, Colorado and Ontario have all committed resources to fighting the Minnesota fires.
Walz said he has contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is in talks with the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, the evacuation order for the Three Lakes Road Fire was lifted on Monday night, according to St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay, who provided an update early Tuesday morning on social media.
In his update, Sheriff Ramsay said firefighters are facing burned trees that have fallen over and are blocking roadways and more. Ramsay said evacuation areas on Tuesday will include Skibo, and he will be giving more updates as conditions change. His full Tuesday morning update can be found further below.
The area around the Camp House Fire has been devastated, with more than 80 structures lost so far, Walz said. In addition, he said the U.S. Forest Service has added more air support to its suppression efforts.
Ramsay reiterated that drivers shouldn’t go past road closure signs, saying some people have gone around barricades and then been in the way of firefighters, simply because they want to look at what is happening. Anyone who goes around the signs will be ticketed, the sheriff said.
The American Red Cross and the St. Louis County Public Health Department have set up a wildfire evacuation center at the Fredenberg Community Center at 5104 Fish Lake Road in Duluth.
Additionally, many of those who have been evacuated are gathering in Ault Township at Hugo’s Bar, which has become somewhat of an unofficial headquarters for those who only had time to grab what they could and get out as fast as possible.
RELATED: Residents ordered to evacuate as 3 fires in St. Louis County reach hundreds of acres in size
If you have loved ones in the Northland, make sure to let them know that if they get a text saying to evacuate, it’s critical they do so. Anyone living near an evacuation zone should have a bag of essentials packed ahead of time just in case.
An online map of active evacuation zones can be found HERE. Stay up to date with the latest weather conditions HERE.
A portion of the Laurentian Ranger District in the Superior National Forest is closed until further notice. There is no visitor entry at campsites, recreation sites, trails, roads and lakes, according to Superior National Forest.
RELATED: Air quality alerts extended into Tuesday as extreme fire danger continues I Crews fighting 700-acre wildfire in St. Louis County, several dozen residents evacuated I Several fires reported across Minnesota mid red flag warning