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A National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) Team is managing the Jenkins Creek and Horse River fires under a full suppression strategy. Ensuring public and firefighter safety remain a primary priority.

A Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team is now in place to assist Superior National Forest land managers in the assessment of potential impacts to watersheds affected by the Jenkins Creek Fire.

The fire weather forecast suggests that following the drying we will experience today, we will have 3-4 days of moderate fire weather, with a chance of rain Sunday that should provide crews the opportunity to make gains on the Horse River and Jenkins Creek Fires.

Jenkins Creek Fire Quick Facts

Size: 16,091 acres                               Containment:94%                 Personnel:207

Unmanned Aerial System (UAS/drone) missions flown over the southern half of the fire yesterday again were unable to locate any sources of heat. Flights over the northern half of the fire located multiple sources of heat, one in the northernmost portion of the fire and two additional sources of heat in the northwest area of the fire. Crews will continue to locate and suppress these sources of heat identified by the UAS infrared technology. Crews will be walking the southwest perimeter to improve mapping of the fire, in addition to using the UAS to map the fire perimeter. Grading to improve the surface of the 113, 120, and 420 roads has now been completed. Crews have been cautioned to remain vigilant as they enter areas of trees prone to windthrow that have been weakened by bug-kill and the fire.

Horse River Fire Quick Facts

Size: 13 acres                                      Containment: 0%                   Personnel: 26

Crews in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness will continue to methodically and persistently work their way along the perimeter and within the interior of the Horse River Fire to locate and suppress any remaining sources of heat.  As they conduct this work, that we often refer to as ‘gridding the fire’, they will also be collecting GPS locations to improve the mapping of the fire’s perimeter. The crews working the Horse River Fire reported yesterday that they located no additional sources of heat outside the existing perimeter of the fire.

Fire Weather & Behavior:  Today will bring mostly sunny skies that will lead to drying on the landscape. Relative humidity will fall to between 20 – 25%, temperatures will be in the low 70s, winds will be light out of the west with gusts approaching 20 mph. These are more moderate conditions than we experienced over the weekend, but sunny skies and low relative humidity could produce sufficient drying to produce fire behavior. More moderate weather conditions will begin on Thursday and continue through Friday and Saturday. Sunday may bring the possibility of rain to the area.

Hit-by-Hazards: Every year one or more wildland firefighters is injured by what we refer to as a ‘hit-by-hazard’, the most common of which are falling trees or falling tree limbs. Here in northern Minnesota, approximately 1.3 million acres have been impacted by the spruce budworm. When a slow moving ground fire meets already weakened trees, the fire works its way into root systems, further weakening these trees and making them susceptible to falling with the next wind event. These hazards will be here on the landscape long after these fires are contained. Please, be careful out there.