The Cavity Lake fire burning in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness blowdown grew more complex Tuesday, triggering the U.S. Forest Service to call for a nationally managed Type 1 fire team -- the most experienced kind of firefighting group available.
The Forest Service estimated the fire could grow to more than 30,000 acres and cost $3 million to fight. The fire also might not be fully controlled, meaning it could flare up and expand until the end of August.
The Type 1 team will include people from several agencies with more experience in attacking complicated fires, said Forest Service Information Officer Mike Martin.
The fire expanded to the south and slightly to the west on Tuesday. The number of new acres burning wasn't known. On Monday night and Tuesday morning, the fire was estimated at 15,000 acres.
Martin said many factors prompted the Forest Service to call for the new team: its large size, proximity to the Gunflint Trail corridor and Canadian border, a burnout operation that began on Tuesday, the large number of different types of aircraft working the fire, and the explosive fuel load left by the 1999 blowdown storm. Some members of the current management team will stay, partly because they know the history of the blowdown storm and past prescribed burns, he said.
"It's not a reflection of the current team's work," Martin said of the transition, which should be complete by Thursday night.
Tuesday dawned with a shroud of thick smoke blanketing the Gunflint Trail as far south as Grand Marais. A low pressure system over the area had captured and held smoke from the burning blowdown close to the ground. The smoke dissipated by about9 a.m.
Winds pushed the fire south toward the Tuscarosa prescribed burn, which officials expect will burn strongly if it ignites.
Two Canadian helicopter teams dropped 3,500 incendiary devices, which resemble pingpong balls filled with combustible chemicals, to start fires south of the main fire and slow its advance on Tuesday.
One Blackhawk helicopter that was ordered by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to stand by in Bemidji should be working the fire today, officials said. The Blackhawk will be part of the water-dropping operations. The Minnesota National Guard Blackhawk crew arrived in Grand Marais on Tuesday.
Several Forest Service crews will remain in the BWCAW around the perimeter of the fire for a week or more to contact and help campers moving throughout the area.
Seagull Lake has been closed to all boat traffic, and some portages and BWCAW entry points are closed.
Work continued on erecting a temporary camp for fire crews in an old slash pit off the Gunflint Trail, near the Seagull Lake Ranger Station. Road crews widened and stabilized the road with fill, and a catering company should be setting up a cooking tent later in the week. A shower tent should also be available soon, said Joe Fields, an information officer with the Forest Service.
Officials expected today to be another active fire day, with a chance of thunderstorms and gusty winds. They also predicted a 60 percent chance of new fires north of Alpine Lake today.Duluth News Tribune
