Isabella, Minnesota (AP) — In northeastern Minnesota, dozens of homes, huts, and annexes have been destroyed or damaged as the state’s largest wildfire continues to burn uncontained.
Officials say 12 homes or huts and 57 annexes were lost in a fire on Lake Greenwood that consumed 34 square miles of forest. Three additional homes or huts were damaged by the fire. Minnesota Public Radio News Reported on Wednesday.
Forest authorities have hit tourists by deciding to keep the popular Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness closed for another week until September 3. Spent months planning their trip And to the furnishings and other businesses that serve the one million acres of wilderness.
During this summer’s drought, several lightning-induced fires burned in the wilderness, but the fire on the much larger Lake Greenwood, just south of it. Forced evacuation There have been about 280 homes and huts since it was discovered on August 15th, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of the town of Isabella.
Forest authorities were also monitoring a burning fire across the Canadian border in Quetico State Park, Ontario. This closed part of the border waters north of Erie earlier this summer.
However, when the John Ek fire broke out late last week, forest authorities decided to shut down the entire wilderness area as a precautionary measure. They said the fires and the Greenwood Lake fires stretched their resources too thinly to keep paddler and campers safe.
Over 400 crew members are fighting wildfires.