Bryan Hansel Photography

Smoke Over Town, Fire in the BWCA

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Bryan Hansel
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Smoke from BWCA fire over Grand Marais.

If you haven’t been watching the national news, you may not know that the Boundary Waters are on fire again. It sounds like the upper section of the Gunflint Trail has been devastated. Some of this fire is in the 1999 blow down area (Amazon link. I may get a commission). Tonight, in town I was able to get some pictures of the sunsetting looking from the harbor into the smoke from the fire. The sunset was pretty amazing. Greens and browns which didn’t really capture in the photos where definitely in the sky. About thirty minutes before the sunset, it looked the color of a tornado sky.

Smoke over Grand Marais

Smoke clouds over the harbor.

Smoke from BWCA fire over Grand Marais

Ilena watching the sunset.

BWCA Smoke Clouds

The darker clouds are the dense smoke from the fire.

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5 responses to “Smoke Over Town, Fire in the BWCA”

  1. JoelT Avatar
    JoelT

    A bit ominous, but very beautiful. While it’s not a good situation for those who have property and buildings up there, nature’s cycles just a reality of wilderness. I’ve been watching the fire with great interest as I’ll be heading into the BWCA next week into the south side of the gunflint area (Brule/Winchell area). Hopefully it doesn’t ruin the trip or cause to much damage…some brooding sunrises and sunsets would be nice though for photography. :)

    Thanks for posting this.

    Reply
  2. Bryan Avatar
    Bryan

    Well, it’s heading back south. It’s just across Gunflint Lake right now. Town is a big smoky mess. Hopefully, it doesn’t cross the Gunflint again and head south. Temps are going to drop in the morning.

    Reply
  3. jeff rosales Avatar
    jeff rosales

    i hope Ron (i think that is his first name) has made it out of mine lake – he is the person who spends the ice free seasons out at mine lake off of the kek trail- i cannot remember his last name but he has been doing this for at least 20 years. he is the one who leaves the calendars of Jesus and the notes for back pain etc. around town. Does anyone know if he is ok? (Peter Igoe of Grand Marais is familiar with him)i used to work for the forest service back in the eighties).

    Reply
  4. Jan in Grand Marais Avatar
    Jan in Grand Marais

    Hi All,
    I want to assure anyone reading this that the air quality in Grand Marais has thus far been affected by the Ham Lake fire for a measly 2.5 hours, and that was last Thursday 5/10! Today is another beautiful spring day in Grand Marais! Yes, it was smoky for a while on Thursday but it cleared by 8:00pm and has been gorgeous ever since. Our community survives on tourism. If you are wondering what you can do to help, here it is: Come visit Grand Marais and the Gunflint Trail this spring, this summer, this fall and again this winter. If you’re wondering about air quality or safety, please call 888/922-5000 for current information.

    Reply
  5. Bryan Avatar
    Bryan

    Jan makes a great point. It was only that limited instance for two and a half hours on Thursday that we had some smoke in town. It quickly cleared up and the fresh air from our great lake made for a wonderful evening.

    I also urge people to come up. The fire is far away from town and the shore and the weather has been fantastic this year. Lots of sun. The right temps. And no bugs! The spring flowers have also started. Look for pictures soon.

    Reply

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