Investigators link Birch Bay Fire near Ely to chainsaw work
Investigators say chainsaw work during Forest Service burn prep may have sparked the Birch Bay Fire, which forced evacuations near Burntside Lake and burned 35 acres.
Investigators now believe the Birch Bay Fire near Ely may have started when U.S. Forest Service crews were doing chainsaw work to prepare a prescribed burn area, turning routine fuels-reduction work into a St. Louis County wildfire emergency. The fire was first detected June 1 near Burntside Lake, about eight miles northwest of Ely, and ultimately burned an estimated 33 to 35 acres on Forest Service land.
The blaze pushed officials to evacuate nine seasonal homes and cabins near North Arm Road and Lindskog Road, while Camp Widjiwagan and Camp du Nord were monitored but never considered in danger. St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said nothing else was threatened, including Ely, but the fire still moved fast enough to trigger a local response along roads used by residents, campers and visitors heading toward the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Fire crews were working in the Geraldine prescribed fire unit, part of the larger Hi-Lo Project, which is intended to reduce hazardous fuels and improve forest resiliency in the wildland-urban interface. Officials said the project area contained dense understory vegetation such as balsam fir, and the burn prep happened in extremely dry conditions. One report placed the region near the 97th percentile for dryness on long-term averages, while aircraft scanning identified more than 100 spot fires as the fire spread in a landscape already primed to carry flames.
The U.S. Forest Service had pre-positioned water-scooping aircraft in Duluth, and those aircraft pulled water from Burntside Lake to slow the fire’s advance. Crews also moved into place along North Arm Road and Lindskog Road to protect homes and cabins, as smoke drifted north across the Boundary Waters.
By June 5, evacuation zones had been lifted and the fire was reported at 43% containment. Later updates put containment at 90% and then 100%, with crews shifting to mop-up, hazard-tree removal and hot-spot work. The Forest Service said chainsaw operators are required to complete training and follow national chainsaw safety standards, and Drew Stroberg said the agency would review the findings for lessons that could shape future operations.
The fire underscored a hard truth for Ely, Burntside Lake and the surrounding forest country: the same work meant to reduce future fire danger can also carry ignition risk when heat, dryness and wind line up in all the wrong ways.
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