8/24/21 – Not surprisingly given the very active fire days recently, the US Forest Service has decided to extend the closure of the BWCA Wilderness. Overnight permits for the period of August 28th – September 3rd were cancelled today (and automatically refunded).

The Whelp Fire miraculously showed very little growth over the last few days. It remains at about 50-60 acres. The John Ek fire grew to about 1500 acres, mostly to the east and northeast. There were some new fire starts, the only one near us was about a mile north of Crescent Lake just across the border of the BWCA, it is being called the Petit Fire. It is currently under an acre in size and has a fire crew actively working to contain it. Thankfully, it is in a very accessible area and they anticipate having it contained very quickly.

We continue to be in a safe position, with no evacuation orders imminent. We had a brief 12 hour period, from late last night until this afternoon, of bad smoke from the Greenwood fire. The winds have shifted and thankfully we had clear skies this evening.

Clare