REGIONAL- Improving conditions on the July Lightning fires prompted officials to lift the remaining elevated burning restrictions across northeastern Minnesota this week, while increasing containment and a continuing decline in the number of firefighters assigned to the fires provided further signs of progress.

Burning restrictions lifted
The Superior National Forest lifted all campfire restrictions across the forest, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, on Monday. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources simultaneously removed its  burning restrictions in Cook, Lake, and northern St. Louis counties.
Voyageurs National Park followed at 3 p.m. Monday, lifting campfire restrictions throughout the park. The decisions were coordinated among the Forest Service, DNR, National Park Service, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, and Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Campfires are once again allowed throughout the Superior National Forest and BWCAW. At Voyageurs, recreational fires are permitted in designated metal fire rings, and charcoal fires may be used in metal rings and grills.

Firefighting force
drawn down
The July lightning fires had burned a combined 76,032 acres as of Monday, including 67,009 acres in the United States and 9,023 acres in Canada.
The number of personnel assigned to the incident had declined this week to 598, down from roughly 1,000 near the height of the response. The reduction coincides with increasing containment, the dismantling of temporary camps established near remote portions of the fires, removal of equipment and supplies, and a transition from building firelines to repairing areas disturbed during firefighting operations.
Aircraft were busy Monday hauling personnel and supplies out of the BWCAW ahead of rain and thunderstorms expected Tuesday. All crews were out of the wilderness by Tuesday morning, although firefighters were continuing suppression-repair work elsewhere as weather allowed.
Rain reached Ely around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, just as the incident’s morning briefing ended. Additional thunderstorms added to rain totals later in the day, although amounts varied widely.
Two additional BWCAW entry points along the Echo Trail reopened Tuesday. They were Little Indian Sioux River South, Entry Point No. 9, and South Hegman Lake, Entry Point No. 77. More than 1,600 of the wilderness’s approximately 2,000 campsites were available as of Aug. 13, although other closures remained in place.

Camp Fire
The Camp Fire, five miles north of Winton, remained at 4,357 acres and was 97 percent contained.
Crews were continuing suppression repair along the Great Fall Trail and Echo Trail corridor, with the goal of returning areas disturbed by firefighting operations as closely as possible to their pre-fire condition. Equipment and supplies were also being hauled out, while crews remained available to respond to any new fires.
As containment increases, firefighters are shifting from building firelines to removing or repairing them where the burned area inside the perimeter is considered secure. That burned area is commonly called “the black.”
Fire lines are strips where firefighters removed vegetation, leaf litter, roots, and other burnable material to expose mineral soil and keep flames from advancing. Bulldozers working along roads created wider lines, pushing soil, vegetation, and debris into berms. Hand crews dug narrower lines through the forest floor in areas where heavy equipment could not operate.
Removing those lines does not mean firefighters are weakening containment. Where the fire has consumed enough fuel inside the perimeter that the line is no longer needed, bulldozers push the berms back and restore the original roadside contours. Hand crews refill trenches and replace rocks, branches, leaf litter, and other displaced material.
The work restores drainage, reduces erosion, and allows the disturbed areas to begin recovering.

Sioux Fire
The Sioux Fire, north of the Echo Trail and east of Jeanette Campground, remained at 6,833 acres and was 76 percent contained.
Crews were hauling out equipment while drones continued monitoring the perimeter for remaining heat. Aerial surveys identified two areas of heat near Jeanette Creek on the southwestern portion of the fire.
Lake Jeanette Campground, its boat launch, and nearby dispersed campsites remained closed. Delays of an hour or more remained possible along the Echo Trail as masticators and chippers continued clearing brush, debris, and logs.

Other fires
The Bear Trap Fire, about 20 miles north of Ely, remained at 39,327 acres overall, including 30,804 acres in the United States, and was 55 percent contained. Aerial monitoring found no significant heat along the southeastern portion of the fire, while crews continued mop-up, cold-trailing, and suppression-repair work.
The Thumb and Wolfpack fires have burned together and are now collectively called the Thumb Fire. The fire totaled 25,515 acres and was 55 percent contained. Patrols found no threats to containment along its northern and northeastern portions. Temporary camps used to support crews in remote areas had been dismantled, supplies removed, and the fire was being monitored daily from the air.
The Little Knife Fire remained at 4,815 acres and was 90 percent contained. Officials reported minimal fire activity and no threats to its perimeter.
The Muskeg Creek Fire, discovered Sunday near Caribou Point in Pipestone Bay, was reported 100 percent contained on Tuesday.