The Latest: Greenwood Fire containment remains at 80%

The Forest Service provided an update on the Greenwood Fire on Tuesday, September 28. The Greenwood Fire remains at 80% contained. According to the Forest Service, there was minimal fire activity over the past several days, and command over the Greenwood Fire has transitioned to Minnesota Incident Command Team A.

Officials say several miles of containment lines have been cold and not active. Crews and equipment have been working to repair the impacts of line construction and restore them to a near natural state. This will help reduce the potential for erosion.

Crews will patrol containment lines watching for any smoke or areas of heat.

September 19, 2021 Update: Authorities lifted fire restrictions for the entire Superior National Forest in Northern Minnesota after reports over the weekend that the Greenwood Lake blaze was 80% contained.

Val Cervenka, a spokeswoman for the team managing the fire, said that while the region remains historically dry, officials don’t expect the fire to spread.

It is not showing any flames, although some of its perimeter straddles inaccessible wetlands and full containment won’t come until snow falls.

The Star Tribune reports that this past week crews continued to find and dig out hot spots along the fire’s edge and remove fallen or standing dead trees, including in the hard-hit McDougal Lakes area.

Other work included sorting salvageable wood and fixing damaged roads.

September 14, 2021 update: Containment of the Greenwood Fire has risen to 75% as several hundred fire personnel continue to work at the scene.

The size of the fire remained at 26,797 acres as of Tuesday, which is the same acreage that has been reported every day since Friday. In their daily update, fire commanders said containment was expected to rise again Tuesday as firefighters continued work to secure the perimeter.

Tuesday’s work was to include cleaning up along Minnesota State Highway 1 where a fuel break had been constructed, as well as removing hose and using an excavator along Lake County Highway 2. They were also using graders to repair the road in the McDougal Lake area, where crews had been using heavy equipment to remove hazardous trees.

The Minnesota Incident Management Team C assumed command of the fire response on Tuesday morning.

Lake County Highway 2 reopened on Friday, Sept. 10. Minnesota Highway 1 remains closed between New Tomahawk Road to Lankinen Road, except for property owners who have passes issued by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

The fire was first detected on August 15 near Greenwood Lake, about 25 miles southwest of Isabella in the Superior National Forest, and was determined to have been caused by lightning. The estimated containment date is Sept. 10.

Fourteen primary structures were destroyed as the fire doubled in size on August 23. Another 57 outbuildings were destroyed.