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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.

Crews in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness have provided better mapping of the perimeter of the Horse River Fire. The fire is now estimated to be 13 acres in size.

Work of the crews on both the Jenkins Creek and Horse River fires will be tested by the weather that we will experience today. We will see higher temperatures that approach the mid-80s, humidity between 25 – 30%, and winds gusting between 25 – 30 mph. These are near red flag warning conditions that can produce extreme fire weather and fire behavior.

Jenkins Creek Fire Quick Facts

Size: 16,091 acres                               Containment:94%                 Personnel:212

An additional Wildland Fire Module, equipped with another Unmanned Aerial System (UAS/drone), will assist in mapping of the perimeter of the Jenkins Creek Fire. The existing UAS crew will continue their missions, flying at night, to identify remaining residual heat within the perimeter of the fire. Yesterday, helicopter water drops occurred in the northwest area of the fire. Crews will revisit this area, and the area of fire previously worked in the vicinity of Laird Creek, to make sure they are secure. No additional sources of heat were detected yesterday in the southern area of the fire. Multiple sources of heat were worked in the northern half of the fire. Hazard tree removal in the area of the Cadotte Campground has been paused for today in anticipation of predicted fire weather conditions. Infrared drone flights to detect residual heat sources will continue to be used to strategically direct crews to identified heat sources. Anticipating the possibility of active fire behavior with the change in weather, the primary focus of today’s operations will be to patrol, monitor, and secure those areas of heat that the crews have been working over the last several days.

Horse River Fire Quick Facts

Size: 13 acres                                      Containment: 0%                   Personnel: 23

The two Wildland Fire Modules working in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness will continue to directly engage the Horse River Fire. The crews are also providing improved mapping of the fire. As they hike along the perimeter of the fire, they are capturing GPS coordinates of the fire perimeter which provides a more accurate picture of the fire. The crews will continue to methodically work their way across an environment that is not only remote, but difficult to traverse, continuing to locate and suppress sources of heat on the fire. 

Fire Weather & Behavior:  Overnight temperatures were approximately 10 degrees warmer than what we’ve experienced in the last week.  We will see a noticeable change in fire weather conditions today. Temperatures will reach the mid-80s, winds will approach 25 to 30 mph, relative humidities will be between 25 and 30%. These are near red flag warning conditions. The possibility of thunderstorms begins this evening and is likely to continue throughout the night. These storms are likely to bring rain, but will also bring strong wind gusts that are likely to result in windthrow of fire damaged trees and tree limbs. These storms may bring lightning as well.

Northland Alert: Fire season is still ahead of us. It might be appropriate to think of enrolling in the St. Louis County Northland Alert program if you already haven’t. This system allows you to receive emergency notifications in a variety of formats that include phone notifications, text messages, or email. You’ll find information for Northland Alert here: https://sheriff-slcgis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/northland-alert.