The Forest Service aand the Morese/Fall Lake Fire Departmment has responded to a 2-acre fire on Pickerel Bay of Snowbank Lake east of Ely.

Date: Friday, August 24, 2018
Incident Name: Pickerel Bay Fire

Description: In the evening on August 23rd, a wildfire was reported on Pickerel Bay of Snowbank Lake at the end of the Fernberg Trail (Lake County Road 18), east of Ely, MN in Lake County. The fire is currently 2 acres in size.

Location: Northeastern Minnesota, Lake County, Township 63 North, Range 9 West,

Section 11
Status: The Forest Service responded to the report of a fire on Snowbank Lake in the evening on August 23rd. The fire was found on the shoreline in Pickerel Bay and was burning in mixed conifer trees with a component of heavy blowdown fuels from the 2016 windstorm that hit this area. An initial assessment of the fire was done last night but due to fading daylight and dangerous dead standing trees on site firefighters were not able to safely engage the fire.

Firefighters arrived on scene at the fire early this morning to make an assessment of how and where to construct fire lines and engage the fire as it is safe to do so. Fire activity this morning was reported to be moderate with creeping and smoldering. The fire area has only received a trace amount of precipitation so far today. Part of the fire did reach into a Black Spruce swamp which helped to slow the spread. One helicopter is already on scene to help assess the fire and will begin water drops this morning. A second helicopter has been ordered and will arrive later this morning. Eight firefighters are on site at the fire and will coordinate the bucket drops and begin work on cutting fire lines.

Since the fire is burning in some heavy fuels and depending on weather conditions, smoke may be seen coming from the south end of Snowbank Lake for several days. The public is advised to stay away from the fire area as firefighters and aircraft will be working. The Superior National Forest has ordered additional firefighting resources which will be arriving today to maintain staffing levels for this fire and any potential future fire starts.

Closures: There are currently no closures in place due to this fire but a Trail Advisory has been posted on the Kekekabic/Snowbank Trails. The fire is located ¼ mile north of the Kekekabic/Snowbank Trail so hiking the trail is not recommended at this time and hikers should be aware that the fire conditions could change quickly.

Key Message: Northeastern Minnesota has been slowly drying out as we have not received significant moisture over the past three weeks. There are several soil and fuel conditions that are monitored to determine fire danger levels and several of those conditions are indicating a drying trend in the region. The Superior National Forest has responded to five escaped shore lunch campfires over the past week. Northeastern Minnesota has so far only received very light precipitation. Please be extra careful with campfires making sure they are out cold before leaving them.


Forest Service Superior National Forest

"The Superior National Forest has responded to five escaped shore lunch campfires over the past week."

It amazes me how careless people can be!

Not even careless, it's blatant disregard for the rules. People come ashore for lunch, make a fire, and leave it to smolder out after they leave.

was the steady? sometimes heavy rain we received in the metro also seen in or near the bwca?

I was wondering the same thing. We just got 4" of rain in River Falls and I was hoping it's going north.

Not much rain on and near Snowbank. Barely enough to dampen the ground yesterday.

Is there a good website where I can keep up on this and other fires? I looked on the FS site, but didn’t see anything on this fire.

Last year, we came across 2 unattended smoldering campfires and put them both out. One was on Disappointment. If you are an outfitter out there issuing permits, please consider reminding your customers to put their's out. Conifer trees burn like gasoline.

decent rains in the area today though so far- just to the South of Ely and Snowbank area. Areas that have seen decent rains have seen between 1/2" to 1" -- with more chances later tonight and the first half of the work week...