Fire on the Gunflint

This information is up to date as of about 12:30 am tuesday morning.

It looks like the north end of the gunflint trail (after round lake, about 10 min drive from Gunflint lodge) as we speak is all burt by this high speed fire. I grabbed the map to the left before the InciWeb.org sever melted again this morning (they are having serious server issues). At least it went the unusual direction of north west that is less populated instead of north east where it would have hit Gunflint lodge and the much more populated areas surrounding it.

I did read this interesting bit at the star trib,

"While 40 buildings were lost, officials said more than 50 in the fire's path were spared, apparently because they were protected by outdoor sprinkler systems owners installed after by the 1999 "blow-down" killed millions of trees in the area and increased fire danger for years to come."

Good news for the cabin, where even in this apparently intense fire there was a 100% survival rate of buildings protected by sprinklers and a 100% burn rate for those without. That is very impressive.

I feel sorry for the people up a the end of the trail, they have had bad luck. First the blow down in 1999 then threaten by serious fire for the past 2-3 years then this out of season human made freak fire comes in an finishes the disaster the blow down started almost 8 years ago. But if you map the fire activity in that area where the blow down was worst, the coverage of what has been burnt by fire is nearing total. I remember my BWCA book (now in a box some place) that said it was not a question of if but when fire would come after a wind event. He said that normally, 10 years after a blowdown fire should have consumed most of it, allowing new growth to rise up. So far, his predictions are accurate.

That trip megan I took 2 years ago is cursed, I think by the time this is over the entire route will have burned!! Still no threat to our property, and I can't imagine that this fire would become one. I am going to post more about fire later, I have lots to write on the subject.