"A fire has been reported in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on the Kawishiwi Ranger District, east of the Horse River in a remote area.
Firefighting personnel are assessing the fire and safe engagement options. As more information is available, updates will be provided as the situation continues to evolve.
Public are asked to stay out of the area for safety reasons to allow for firefighting resources and public safety.
For the safety of firefighting resources, no drones are allowed near the fire area and are illegal in federal designated wilderness areas.
??: USDA Forest Service image by A, Kania"

Think it is called the "Horse River Fire" ~5 acres but spotty info on my end.

Horse River Fire


USDA Forest Service image by A, Kania

I could see a campfire ban going on anytime now, especially with temps warming up

I was on the horse river Tuesday, it was still pretty crunchy even with last week's rain. We camped on the furthest south site on horse lake. There was no dew on the tent in the morning although this morning on jackfish Bay a good frost wetted things for a little while.

Has there been any rainfall up there this week? Here in central Minnesota we got over 4 1/2” of rain in the last 7 days.

Savage Voyageur: "Has there been any rainfall up there this week? Here in central Minnesota we got over 4 1/2” of rain in the last 7 days. "

zero east of Ely as far as can tell

The Forest service doesn't randomly start fire bans. Cook county isn't even in drought conditions yet and lake county just went in. This fire most likely was not a human start given its remote location. Lightning fires are a natural part of the boreal forest as it is a fire-dependent ecosystem.

No rain in Ely this week. There was a little bit of rain last week when a thunderstorm rolled through. I think we got less than an inch. We have been getting high winds though almost daily.

New update was just posted:

gravelroad: "New update was just posted:


"

1 A.M. FRIDAY, MAY 23 UPDATE - Superior National Forest leaders say lightning caused the Horse River fire burning up to 10 acres in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

In a press release Friday, SNF leaders say the fire started Thursday east of the Horse River in a remote part of the BWCA about 16 miles northeast of Ely.
As of Friday, the fire is not contained.
Fire management staff have identified the tree on a ridgetop where lightning struck, causing the wildfire.
The fire is burning in a mixed boreal forest with pine and hardwood trees like birch and aspen.
Fire management staff will fly the fire Friday morning to strategically plan access options and firefighter engagement due to the fire’s remote location.
The area is more than a mile off any canoe route.
Blowdown is limited, but ground access is very poor and SNF leaders say firefighters’ and the public’s safety are the top priorities.
There are not any BWCA closures associated with this fire, but campers are asked to stay out of the fire zone for their safety.

Inciweb link

looks like a bunch of little fires. what is the big lake at the top of the photo? does the river flow into that?

I think we're looking to the south at Jackfish Bay of Basswood Lake. That river fizzles out before getting to Basswood.

setaylor112404: "I think we're looking to the south at Jackfish Bay of Basswood Lake. That river fizzles out before getting to Basswood."

I concur.

Yes. I've added a red X at campsite 1575 in Jackfish bay. I believe this photo is facing just a tiny bit east of due south. Makes me worried for my horse river trip, entering labor day! So much of the Midwest has gotten quite a bit of rain in the last week, it makes me very sad that this area has missed most of it. There was a chance for some rain there today but looking at current radar it appears to be staying closer to Lake Superior :(

I'm going to go a little out on a limb here after 30 years of wildland firefighting and say that they will catch this one and keep it small. Bullets Below.

1) You are not hearing much about this fire, which means it is not moving much.
2) Multiple aircraft are available due to the other fires being mostly contained.
Those are positive things.

Negative.
1) They are unable to quickly insert on the ground firefighters. (I heard rumors that there is a Hellirappell helicopter in ELY, not sure, but that would really help)
2) There may be other sleeper fires/new starts lurking under the peat some where, waiting to awaken.

My wildfire forecast.
This fire will be a locally, long running issue for a minimum of a few weeks until ground resources are inserted or lots and lots of rain happens. But it will not increase in acreage much if any due to available aircraft.

It's a really nice understory burn going on the smokes are jackpots (dead trees etc) burning if it wasn't near highly used areas and so dry ,it would be a candidate for letting it do it's thing

Ahahn366: "It's a really nice understory burn going on the smokes are jackpots (dead trees etc) burning if it wasn't near highly used areas and so dry ,it would be a candidate for letting it do it's thing"

I agree, two years of my 30 year wildland firefighting career was a "Prescribed Fire Monitor" part of that duty entailed monitoring lighting ignitions in the wilderness.
One time in CA I did 43 shifts on a lighting fire in Sequoia NP in 96..
I think the USFS is a little gun shy after the Pagami fire, besides that, it is early in the year and dry, besides being close to Canada and other large fires in MN being close by. Those factors would fit into the fire "full suppression matrix".

Preliminary NOTICE: Due to wildfire activity in the BWCAW Horse Lake area, on the Kawishiwi Ranger District, there is a Superior NF closure order in process that will close the area to visitors, currently only affecting the Winter Route (Dog Sled portage) between Jackfish Bay and Lower Basswood Falls. Paddlers in the area are advised to stay away from the area for their own safety. See https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incid.../mnsuf-horse-river-fire for current incident fire details and updates.

LindenTree: "

Ahahn366: "It's a really nice understory burn going on the smokes are jackpots (dead trees etc) burning if it wasn't near highly used areas and so dry ,it would be a candidate for letting it do it's thing"

I agree, two years of my 30 year wildland firefighting career was a "Prescribed Fire Monitor" part of that duty entailed monitoring lighting ignitions in the wilderness.
One time in CA I did 43 shifts on a lighting fire in Sequoia NP in 96..
I think the USFS is a little gun shy after the Pagami fire, besides that, it is early in the year and dry, besides being close to Canada and other large fires in MN being close by. Those factors would fit into the fire "full suppression matrix". "

When out west in the Mountains, specially above 8000 feet I have never seen such fierce and scary lighting strikes. They start so much closer to the clouds, many times clouds and mountains are the same elevation.
It can be extremely scary.

I spent the summer of 1958 on a remote lookout on the Deerlodge National Forest. The District Ranger would pack in supplies every two weeks. He was the only person that I had contact with that season. At over ten thousand feet, most of the lightning is cloud to cloud. Lookouts would mark the aledade on hot strikes and then count the seconds so that you record the flight path for the lead plane to take at day break.
Missoula would load out a DC-3 and follow the Bird Dog in order to two man fires as soon as they appeared. Times have changed and so have tactics or lack of them.

Per inciweb, they are calling it 9 acres now. There is also a Helli rappelling fire crew in Ely that may engage. I'll find some links to them, they are cool.

"Aerial resources will scout the fire to help plan for suppression tactics. Visiting rappeler resources will recon the fire for engagement. Access is very poor, so firefighters and public safety is the top priority. Aircraft will be utilized as available."



inciweb

Here is a video of what USFS helli repellers do, you can see it is either a Huey212 or 214 since they have two engines and alot of power.

Helli repellers

The rappel gear remains the same as it did 45 years ago. The major change is in the instruction tower. We had to rappel off the bridge south of Mammoth in Yellowstone and then on the tower at West Yellowstone. The park had a single engine Lama that you had to go between the skids and under the helicopter in order to reach the C.G. point before you could begin your let down. The current set up is very impressive.

Fire update as of yesterday. Please stay clear of the area being worked, and note the closure.

Map of trail closure and fire area

The National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) Team continues its efforts to contain and suppress any hotspots for the Jenkins Creek and Horse River fires. As a result of the line of thunderstorms that passed through Saturday evening, the Horse River fire was 100% contained as the Jenkins Creek remains at 94%.

With the Horse River Fire 100% contained, all firefighters and firefighting equipment have been removed from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Management of the fire was handed back to the Superior National Forest on Sunday at 7:00 am.