Lightning strikes cause two wildfires in Boundary Waters, forest service says

Officials with the U.S. Forest Service say that lightning caused two new fires to pop up in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness over the weekend.

The Tiger and Loon fires are in the LaCroix Ranger District of the Superior National Forest, a remote area of the wilderness. The Loon Fire is about 5 acres in size and the Tiger fire is only 1 acre, the forest service says.

Crew members dropped water into the Tiger Fire from a helicopter, but the fire is still smoldering as of Sunday. The forest service says 10 firefighters will work to contain the flames.

Another 10 firefighters will be transported to the Loon Fire to assess the situation and develop a plan to extinguish it.

Officials added that the Birch Bay Fire, a 35-acre fire which which burned about 8 miles north of Ely, was 100% contained on Saturday. Crews will continue to patrol and monitor the area.

Due to dry conditions in northern Minnesota, officials with Superior National Forest instituted a campfire ban in the Boundary Waters through the end of the month. Officials say gas and propane cook stoves are allowed within the forest but stoves or grills fueled by wood or charcoal are not.