Crews continue to battle BWCA fire
Ground crews were still battling the Cummings Lake fire Monday near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness northwest of Ely, the Pioneer Press reports.
The paper said the fire is about 20 acres in size, and is located in a black spruce in a lowland area about 12 miles northwest of Ely. The fire started Sunday after, the Duluth News Tribune said.
Jean Goad, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center in Grand Rapids, told the newspaper the fire in the Superior National Forest in the Cummings Lake area was was first estimated at about 50 acres in size. Five aircraft were battling the flames. Ground crews were on their way to the remote site.
The fire danger rating is high or very high in many central and northern Minnesota counties this Labor Day weekend, KSTP reports.
The Department of Natural Resources is reminding all residents and visitors that campfires should not be bigger than three feet high and three feet across.
The DNR Forestry Division is also restricting burning permits in some areas of the state this week.