My company, based in Milwaukee, sent an email to employees explaining the thick haze as a wildfire in MN. With the NFL just starting I was waiting for the punchline.
I was just up the Gunflint Trail a month ago and that 2007 fire really turned a large chunk of that area into an ugly landscape, green at the bottom with dead trees spiking up all through the area.
To keep this on topic, an interesting side effect of a large fire like this is that pike thrive in lakes within a burn area. Apparently the removal of trees and foliage promotes near shore weed growth which supports the pike populations.
To bad it never got near my cabin. That thing is insured for way more than what we’ve got into it. Let ‘er burn. Of course I think that about my rental property as well.
Wildfire is a natural part of nature. Unfortunately humans have been preventing wildfire for decades. It’s needed up there to clean up all the fuel laying on the ground.
Woke up at 3 in the morning here in Rhinelander area yesterday smelling smoke. Checked the house, upstairs, downstairs; nope, we’re not burning down. Then heard about this on the radio on the way to work…must me a heck of a fire! Thoughts and prayers out to those living and working in that beautiful area…
They had been letting it go; but it got to big, to intense, to fast and to close to civilization to not step in.
dd
For anyone that’s not been up there. It is true wilderness and god awful country to gain access to. I don’t envy those fire fighters at all. They are truly men among men.
It’s not like out west where there are fire roads to get people and gear in and out. This is 100% on foot and by canoe.
They are using helicopters with buckets. BWCA no-fly rules have been suspended and there is no shortage of water up there. We just need the winds to die down and some rain would be nice.
I was just up the Gunflint Trail a month ago and that 2007 fire really turned a large chunk of that area into an ugly landscape, green at the bottom with dead trees spiking up all through the area.
dd
I was up there as well around a month ago and we canoed a number of lakes in the burn down area. It’s definitely a desolate looking landscape. Still love being up there though and am sorry to see this happeneing!