Another wildfire in Northern Minnesota has caused more closures of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Tuesday night.
The fire, dubbed the Whelp Fire by the U.S. Forest Service, was caused by a lightning strike and is about 4 miles west-northwest of Sawbill Lake in Cook County.
The BWCAW closures include Hub Lake, Mesaba Lake, Dent Lake, Chaser Lake, Bug Lake, Louse Lake, Louse River, Poe Lake, Mug Lake, Wine Lake, Frederick Lake, Hug Lake, Duck Lake, Zenith Lake, Trail Lake, Boze Lake, Frond Lake and Lujenida Lake.
According to the wildfire incident report, more fire activity was observed Monday with some tree torching, and the fire is increasing in size. As of Tuesday night the fire was estimated to be between 10-20 acres.
Firefighting crews will be put on the ground to fire the fire as soon as the conditions are safe to do so. In the meantime, aircraft will continue to perform water drops to suppress the fire.
Parts of the Boundary Waters have already been closed to due to the Greenwood Lake Fire near Isabella.
For more closure information, visit fs.usda.gov/alerts/superior/alerts-notices.
