Red Eye Fire
From BWCAWiki
The Red Eye Fire, part of the 2006 Eastern Zone Complex, was a forest fire in the Misquah Hills area of the southeastern Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This fire was started by lightning on September 7, 2006.
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Location and extent
The fire burned from Redeye Lake in the southeast to Whitaker Lake in the southwest, over the Misquah Hills to the eastern end of Winchell Lake and north to Larsen Lake and Gaskin Lake. It ultimately burned 1,792 acres before being smothered by rains in late September.
Origin and development
Some 25 fires, including the Red Eye, were started in the Superior National Forest by a lightning storm on September 7, 2006. The origin of the Red Eye Fire was a lightning strike on the southwest shore of Redeye Lake. These fires did not grow much until September 14, when dry windy conditions fanned the blazes north toward the Gunflint Trail.
A change in the weather bringing cool, rainy conditions checked the expansion of the fires beginning on September 16.
Impacts
The Red Eye Fire, along with the Famine Lake Fire, caused officials to declare a mandatory evacuation along a stretch of the middle Gunflint Trail on September 15, affecting over 100 residents. This evacuation order was lifted on September 18. Numerous wilderness entry points were closed to the public. There were no reports of injury or damage to private property.
References
- Evacuation of Gunflint Trail canceled, but fires still burn, St. Paul Pioneer Press, September 18, 2006
- Rain puts Gunflint Trail fire into holding pattern, StarTribune, September 17, 2006
- Gunflint Trail closed; fire sparks evacuation of mid-trail, Duluth News Tribune, September 15, 2006
