Foss Fire update May 20, 2016

Date Issued: May 20, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. Incident Commander Type III: Timo Rova
Fire Information:


Fire Start Date: May 19, 2016 Size: Approximately 440 acres Containment: 10 percent

Location: This fire is located 10 miles west of Ely, MN, in St. Louis County, one mile west of the southwestern edge of Burntside Lake, north of Foss Lake, and south of Crab Lake.
The fire is burning north within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

Description:
Crews made good progress today, directly attacking the fire on its north, east, and west sides. Aircraft dropped fire retardant along the east side of the fire and water on the west side.

Background: The Foss Lake Fire began on May 19 as a prescribed fire to reduce surface and ladder fuels, to enhance wildlife habitat, and to encourage jack pine regeneration. Shortly after ignition, an unpredicted change in weather conditions brought higher winds, warmer temperatures, and lower relative humidity.

A spot fire north of the control line escaped containment and the wind-driven fire spread to the north.

Aircraft that were on standby responded quickly and, with the work of ground crews, were able to slow the fire’s eastward spread with water and retardant drops, protecting the west and north sides of Burntside Lake.

The fire spread north to Crab Lake in the BWCAW. There was no fire growth to the south.

Message:
There is no threat to the towns of Ely, Winton, Tower, or Soudan. No structures are threatened. Good fuel-reduction work completed over the last two years on Burntside Lake increases firefighters’ ability to manage the eastern edge.

Resources:
80 personnel and 8 aircraft. MNICS Type II Team under Incident Commander Brian Pisarek arrived today and will take command of the fire Saturday morning. The Lake Vermilion Fire Brigade and the Morse/Fall Lake Fire Department both have fire boats on Burntside Lake are conducting structure-protection assessments.

Weather: Saturday’s weather will be very similar to Friday’s. The temperature will be around 75 degrees. Relative humidity will be 20–27 percent. South winds will be variable up to 7 mph. The earliest chance of rain over the fire area is Monday.

Closures: Currently, just one BWCAW entry point is closed: entry point #4 Crab Lake. All other entry points remain open. The closure area includes the following BWCAW portages and lakes, including campsites:

• Crab Lake BWCAW entry point and portage from Burntside Lake to Crab Lake
• Crab, Boulder, Phantom, Battle, Sprite, Meat, Clark, Glimmer, Hassle, Saca, Little Crab, Korb, Maxine, Barefoot, Little Jig, Silaca, Coxey Pond, Lunetta, Schlamn, Soroll, Glenmore, Western, Blick, Chad, Dugout, and Pine Lakes and associated portage trails
• Cummings Lake portage from Cummings Lake to Korb Lake and Cummings Lake to Korb River Update Foss Lake Fire
• Pine Creek East of Trout Lake
• Pine Lake portage from Trout Lake to Pine Lake

Closure signs will be used at normal points of access to delineate the closure area. The closure area map is located at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4740/#

Bears are active right now - Sept 17, 2015

Report from the USFS, Kawishiwi Ranger Station, Ely MN

Bears are really active right now—reports from the old Service Center on Central Avenue in Ely, to the Passi Road on Burntside, to the large island in the South Arm of Knife Lake and even Lakes One and Two.

Now is the time to put bird feeders away, stash any trash in secure buildings, and be extra mindful when camping in the BWCAW. Please remember, coolers are NOT bear resistant containers. Once a bear gets hold of food it will return many times to the same site looking for more food. Save a bear and be stingy with your left overs.

·        The report received from the large island in the South Arm of Knife included tents torn. This is likely a mother bear and cubs who have been pretty active in this area.

·        No specific details on the bear in Lake Two area. It may have damaged a tent.

·        A bear on Lake One got a group’s entire food bag. No information on which site.

Hang your food bag or use a bear resistant food barrel

·        The bear in the Service Center was easily scared away.   The bear on the Passi Road destroyed some bird feeders. 

May 7, 2014 Ice Out Report

Superior National Forest Ice Update

                                                                        May 7, 2014 PM report

                                                                       

Current Ice Conditions: Conditions are changing quickly. Rains, warmth, and wind could give fisherman much more open water by the weekend.

From Forest Service pilots today:  

·        -  Newton (between Fall L and Pipestone) is open.

·         - Pipestone is 60% open.

·         -  Jackfish is still frozen.

·         - Mud is 50%, Rice is 80%, and Ella Hall is 20% open.

·        -  Garden is 75% open.

·         - Kempton is open.

·        -  Pickerel is 50%.

·         - Wood is starting to open.

·       -   Fall—there is ice on the west end and by the 4 Mile Portage.

·         - Most of Basswood is tightly frozen but Back Bay is 50%. Hoist Bay is frozen.

·        -  Lakes 1 thru 4—shorelines are open but still 75% ice. May see some changes in the next few days.

·         - Kawishiwi R. and west bound there is some open water and may open by the weekend. Gabbro and Bald Eagle (southern end) are 25%. Three Mile is 60%.

·         - Snowbank and going east most of the lakes are frozen tight to the shore.

Reports from others:

·        -  The road into Mudro Lake is in very bad condition. Low clearance vehicles and two wheel drive vehicles will probably not make it.

Road Reports from Gunflint (Grand Marais) Engineer:

·         The Grade:  (170) is snow free, but really rough – even “rutty”.

·         You can’t get into Wilson Lake Campground and probably won’t be able to for at least a few more days, probably not by this weekend.

·         From Lake County 7, going on FR 166 (600 Road) to the 342 Road, (Two Island River Road) there is about 1-2” of snow at the intersection of 166/342, so no travel down on the 342 road for several days.

·         From Lake County Road 7 to Richey Lake Road it is still snow covered, but passable by pickup or four wheel drive, car travel would not be advised.

·         Temperance River Road (343) you could drive up the first four miles but lots of trees were down.  There is still snow on the road, probably only advisable with a pick-up truck.

Ice Out conditions 2014

Superior National Forest Ice Update

 May 6, 2014 PM report

  

Current Ice Conditions: Remember, ice is never completely safe and now is a particularly dangerous time. 

Also, ice packs shift with winds so the exact location of an ice pack may change quickly. 

From Forest Service pilots--a seeding mission was flown today and this is the pilot’s report: 

· There is very little open water right now. 

· If we get a break in the weather, conditions may change very quickly—even as soon as this weekend. 

· Where there is current, ice is breaking up. 

· Much of Fall Lake is open and some portions of Pipestone Bay are open. 

· Smaller lakes and ponds are dark and are starting to break up. 

· Portions of Birch Lake are beginning to open up. 

· Most lakes east of Insula are pretty solidly ice-covered still. 

· The Little Indian Sioux and Nina Moose (aka Moose/Portage Rivers) Rivers are open but the lakes are mostly still frozen. 

Reports from others: 

· Much of the eastern end of Fall Lake is open. 

· The southern tip of Pipestone Bay was open to just north of Wegens Point two days ago. 

· The road into Mudro Lake is in very bad condition. Low clearance vehicles and two wheel drive 

vehicles will probably not make it. 

We are sending warm thoughts toward opening of fishing. 

Pagami Creek Fire Restoration Work

The USFS has accomplished a lot of work after the Pagami Creek Fire: restoring campsites, portages, and portions of the Pow Wow Trail.  

• Currently, there are 26 campsites closed on the Kawishiwi District. 
• By June, 2013 an additional 8 sites will be re-opened.  19 sites will remain closed.   
• An environmental analysis will be completed to add two new sites on the north end of Lake One. 
• Due to the reduction in the number of sites available to campers, the Lake One Entry Point (#30) quota will be adjusted to a total of 14 per day:  7 quota will be entry point 30 with no camping restrictions and 7 will be entry point 30F restricting travelers from camping on the Kawishiwi River.  (30F will NOT include last season’s restriction for camping beyond Lake Three.)  This adjustment aims to spread the overnight use out and alleviate last year’s tremendous use on the Kawishiwi River.

Pagami Creek Fire Update Sept 11, 2011

TODAY’S MESSAGE: Yesterday’s dry air and north winds pushed the Pagami Creek Fire farther south yesterday. In consideration of today’s high fire indices, fire managers began a proactive movement of campers from Lakes Two through Hudson, nearby routes, and the Isabella River within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Specific closures are listed below. Most of the BWCAW remains safe and open to visitors eager to enjoy the fall season.

ACTIVITIES TODAY:
Public Safety crews are sweeping the areas to be closed, assisting campers into other lakes.
Airplanes and helicopters are being used to drop water, keeping the fire within the wilderness and south and east of the Kawishiwi River.

CLOSURES: The vast majority of the BWCAW remains safe and open to visitors. To insure public safety the following waterways and portages are temporarily closed: Lakes One through Hudson, Fire, Bridge, Rifle, the Wilders, Horseshoe, Pagami, Clearwater, Turtle, Camdre, Pietro, Gull, Quadga, Rice, Isabella Lake, and the Isabella River. The southern campsites on Bald Eagle are closed. The Pow Wow Trail is closed. Sites, routes and portages will be re-opened as soon as it is safe to do so. The following entry points are closed: #30 Lake One, #84 Snake River, #75 Little Isabella River, #67 Bog Lake, #86 Pow Wow Trail, #35 Isabella Lake, and #34 Island River. Campers already in the BWCAW will be able to travel through these routes to exit the wilderness but visitors will not be allowed to enter at these points until further notice.

SAFETY: Campfire restrictions are in place. Wilderness wide, campfires are allowed only between 6 p.m. and midnight. Be sure that campfires are doused thoroughly until cold to the touch.

DATE OF DETECTION: August 18, 2011

CAUSE: Lightning

CURRENT SIZE: approximately 4500 acres burned. Acreage is expected to increase today due to weather conditions.

LOCATION: Township 63 N, Range 9 W, Sections 30, 31, 32: approximately 14 miles east of Ely (within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness) in the Pagami Creek area between the South Kawishiwi River, Clearwater Lake, and Lake One.

AGENCY: Superior National Forest, Kawishiwi Ranger District

SMOKE CONDITIONS: Smoke may be heavy and wide spread depending on wind direction.

RESOURCES: The fire is now under the management of Type 2 Incident Management Team Hinds.

Rochester Sport Show

We exhibited at the Rochester, MN Sport Show over the past weekend. It was a good turnout. Thank you to all of our previous customers that stopped by. It is always good to hear stories about your wilderness adventures. We met many people that are interested in experiencing the BWCA or Quetico Park and invite you to visit our website at www.elycanoetrips .com for more details and to start planning your adventure.

On Saturday and Sunday we offered a seminar on “Fishing the BWCA.” Attendance was good and showed us that interest in the BWCA reaches across all ages. Our seminar covered what tackle to use, where to fish, doing C.P.R. (catch-photograph-release) with the big fish and more. And of course some BWCA stories that cause all of us to laugh and enjoy.

Be sure to visit us at the following shows:

February 19 – Camping & Outdoor Expo, Maplewood MN Community Center

March 11-13 – Canoecopia, Allina Convention Center, Madison WI

March 30-April 3 – NW Sport Show, Minneapolis Convention Center**

** Watch for an announcement of our seminar times

Good paddling,

Steve

Northwest Sport Show

Visit with Spirit of the Wilderness at the Northwest Sport Show March 24-28, 2010. The Northwest Sport Show is at the Minneapolis Convention Center. We will be in booth #537. Stop by and say hello.

We would be happy to spend some time with you discussing your 2010 Boundary Waters or Quetico canoe trip. Bring your questions and trip dates and book your trip at the show.

There will be Outfitting Show Specials that can be taken advantage of if you reserve your canoe trips while at the show.

Don't forget! Owner, Steve Nelson, will be giving a seminar 2 PM March 26, 2010 at the show. Come listen to the Fishing in the Boundary Waters seminar. This is a great opportunity to learn fishing tips and techniques for your BWCA canoe trip.

Canoe season is around the corner

The canoe are just waiting for you here at Spirit of the Wilderness! OK, maybe it will still be a few more months until we have open water and the snow melts. We just get excited, here at Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters, for the coming canoe season. This is about the time we get a little anxious to see some of that warmer spring weather.

We have been taking to many of you about your upcoming canoe and fishing trips. It's won't be long until we are open for the season. We are looking to be open around May 6, 2010.

Hope to see you this summer. Don't forget we will be at a couple of sport shows soon. If you are around to visit with us at the show we would love to see you. We would love to spend some time reminiscing about old trips or talking about new ones.

• March 12-14 we will be at Canoecopia in Madison, WI.

• March 24-28 we will be at the Northwest Sport Show in Minneapolis, MN.

BWCAW Permit Lottery

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We have had some warmer than normal temperatures around the Ely, Minnesota area lately. Yesterday we did get a little snow. It's finally feeling more like winter.

Quick reminder that the BWCAW permit lottery is underway. December 1 through January 15, 2010 you can apply for a BWCAW permit. It is the first chance to get a permit for the up coming canoe season. If you have specific dates or a specific entry point in mind it might be a good idea to apply for a permit now. After January 1, 2010 BWCAW permits are first come first serve. We are happy to help just call Spirit of the Wilderness (800-950-2709) to answer questions or to book your canoe trip.