Prescribed Burn Turned Wildfire Grows To 1,000 Acres

ELY, Minn. (AP) — A prescribed burn that got out of control near Ely has now expanded to 1,000 acres.

Christi Powers of the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center says most of the burned area is in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. The Foss Lake Fire is about one mile west of Burntside Lake, and south of the Crab Lake entry point into the wilderness, about 10 miles west of Ely.

Five aircraft were fighting the fire as of midday Friday, including two helicopters and two water-bombing planes. About 40 crew members were on the ground and that number is growing as more crews arrive.

Powers says no structures are threatened, and there's no threat to Ely or other nearby towns.

The U.S. Forest Service says the prescribed fire escaped its containment line Thursday afternoon.