On site 32F on Basswood (Merriam Bay), a Duff Fire was smouldering. Even watched a flame shoot out of the ground. There were several burned spots on that site, and you can see recent tree burns. The entire area looked like it had burned recently, to no surprise. Though we did what we could, I used my Garmin InReach device to text my wife and ask her to contact my outfitter and to use the GPS coords on the message. She did so and said that the outfitter would contact the Merriam Bay Rangers. Does anybody have insight into if the Rangers were already aware of this and were monitoring?

Looks like a lightening strike, those can smolder underground for quite awhile

Mocha: "Looks like a lightening strike, those can smolder underground for quite awhile"

Could be! There were three of these on that site with one of them being about four times as large as the one in my photo.

WonderMonkey: "

Mocha: "Looks like a lightening strike, those can smolder underground for quite awhile"

Could be! There were three of these on that site with one of them being about four times as large as the one in my photo."

Three lighting strikes? At a campsite? On Basswood? I would lean more towards this fire being human started rather then nature.

Good on you for reporting it in.

A great reminder to everyone to always check your fires. Even if this were lightning, it might have been only one bolt and then started spreading in the duff underground, only flaring up in a few places. Our fires can do the same thing. >_> Seen it happen about twenty years ago outside the BWCA on Seagull. I think the 2005 Alpine Fire was started by lightning a week before it went big. It just skunked around until its time was right to get up and start running. That fire had this massive smoke plume the first day. Cavity was just a brown haze on the horizon its first big day-but when it started making its run on the second day that's when it started looking apocalyptic.

takk: "Even if this were lightning, it might have been only one bolt and then started spreading in the duff underground, only flaring up in a few places."

That's very true. I forgot that duff fires can travel underground by way of the root system, sometimes lasting all through winter in the most extreme cases.

Looks like a lightening strike that heated the roots to the point of combustion. Years ago paddling from Louisa to Glacier I came across a bush burning near the shore. No voice emerged from the bush. I put out the fire (without thinking that I was violating the lightening let it burn policy, but I was also exiting via the same route so it was in my interest....) and could see the extensive network of roots that were holding coals and found the fresh lightening scar on the tree to which the roots belonged.