Some evacuees allowed to return to homes
 
By Lew Freedman
Chicago Tribune
Copyright 2007 Chicago Tribune Company

GRAND MARAIS, Minn. — A raging fire in drought-parched northeastern Minnesota that has consumed more than 133 structures and caused property damage estimated at $3.7 million so far was still out of control Monday on both sides of the Canadian border.

But firefighters reported they had it 20 percent contained -- the first major progress reported since the fire erupted May 5 -- and some evacuees were allowed to return to their homes.

Winds shifted Monday and much of the smoke already has dissipated from over this tourist town some 30 miles south of the fire and 40 miles from the Canadian border, but the smoke has wafted as far as the Twin Cities about 270 miles to the south since the fire began.

"Today was a good day," said Mark Van Every, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. "The fire wasn't very active today.

"That just means it's laying down. It doesn't mean it's out."

He said a lightning strike during a thunderstorm Sunday night raised concerns of an additional fire in the area, and firefighters were investigating.

Authorities estimated the costs of fighting the blaze at about $4 million.

No serious injuries have been reported. But the fire has closed off about half of 57-mile Gunflint Trail and its access to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a popular region of shared waters with Canada that attracts thousands of visitors a year, many of them from the Chicago area, to canoe, fish and enjoy the wilderness.

Some 60,000 acres have burned on both sides of the border since the fire started at Ham Lake from a campfire, authorities said.

In Grand Marais, a town of about 1,400, visitors see a large blinking sign as they approach on Minnesota Highway 61, "No burning allowed, extreme fire danger."

Scores of people have been evacuated in the Minnesota area near the shores of Lake Superior, and for the first time the blaze forced some Canadian residents to evacuate.

The area has received little precipitation. However, the National Weather Service forecast a small chance of showers Monday night and Tuesday.

The Boundary Waters area is in the northern third of Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota, according to its Web site. Approximately 1.3 million acres, it extends nearly 150 miles along the International Boundary adjacent to Canada's Quetico Provincial Park.