Hot weather fuels BWCA fire
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Pawlenty planned to fly over the area near Seagull Lake, near the end of the Gunflint Trail, and meet with officials from agencies fighting the fire.
The Cavity Lake Fire is burning in the blowdown area of the BWCA, where a storm flattened millions of trees on July 4, 1999.
The fire is in an area of heavy blowdown that's not accessible by portage or trail, about 50 miles northwest of Grand Marais in northeastern Minnesota.
Pawlenty ordered the National Guard on Saturday to send helicopters and crews to support firefighting efforts throughout Minnesota, where temperatures pushing 100 degrees and dry conditions had created dangerous conditions.
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A combination of strong winds, low humidity and hot temperatures is creating "explosive fire growth potential" in the northern two-thirds of Minnesota.
His order came as the state braced for its hottest weather since 1995.
Fire conditions were so critical that the weather service issued a "red flag warning" for the northern two-thirds of Minnesota. The weather service said a combination of strong winds, low humidity and hot temperatures would create "explosive fire growth potential."
The Minnesota Army National Guard sent two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and crews to Bemidji to assist in firefighting in northern Minnesota so regular firefighters could concentrate on the BWCA fire.
Authorities said the fire in the BWCA, dubbed the Cavity Lake Fire, was burning over 1,400 to 1,500 acres by Saturday evening.
However, plans were to let the fire spread eastward to an area where controlled burning had been implemented and where it would be easier to bring under control, said Ron Stoffel, wildfire suppression supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
"The fire is now burning in heavy blowdown where we really can't do a lot with it," Stoffel said.
The blowdown area is where a powerful windstorm July 4, 1999, flattened millions of trees in and around the BWCA. Since then, authorities have worked hard to prevent fires in that zone, fearing they could expand into a huge conflagration.
Stoffel said three water-scooping planes used to slow the fire earlier Saturday were pulled off so the fire could burn for a day or two until it reached the target area where ground crews could work on putting it out.
Putting crews on the ground in the area where the fire was burning Saturday was too dangerous, he said.
Crews from Indiana and Missouri also are being brought in to help fight the blaze, he said.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
