By Stephen Swanson, John Lauritsen
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Minnesota (WCCO) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says the recovery effort is now underway amid the weekslong fight to contain several wildfires near the Arrowhead region, but warned “they will not be the last of this summer.”
In a press conference held on Thursday afternoon in St. Paul, the governor — joined by leaders of the state’s natural resources and public safety departments, and a National Weather Service meteorologist — said he’s grateful crews have contained three of the largest fires, which all broke out around May 12:
Jenkins Creek Fire: 16,089 acres, 95% contained Camp House Fire: 12,071 acres, 98% contained Munger Shaw Fire: 1,259 acres, 95% contained
All evacuations were lifted in the impacted areas on Memorial Day. Walz also said he’s “grateful that there’s no loss of life,” and assured residents impacted by the fires that the state has their backs.
“What we learned in these fires is how very quickly these moved, and lives were saved because people did cooperate and were able to get out of the areas,” Walz said. “To the folks who lost everything, the state is going to be there.”
The governor also gave shoutouts to several federal agencies that have aided the state’s firefighting efforts.
“I wanna give a big thank you to our federal partners at the National Weather Service, at the Forest Service, at Fish and Wildlife, at FEMA,” he said. “Hasn’t been a lot of love thrown around for federal employees recently, but I’m damn glad they’re there and they do professional work and it makes a difference in people’s lives.”
Crews battling new wildfire in BWCAW
A fourth wildfire, called the Horse River Fire, was first reported in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on May 22, fueled by “thick duff and dead balsam fir trees,” according to the U.S. Forest Service.
DNR Wildfire Administration Supervisor Mike Warnke said during Thursday’s press conference the Horse River Fire, centered about 35 miles north of the Camp House Fire, has spread to about 12 acres with zero containment.
“While containment is a key measure of our firefighting progress, it does not mean that the fires are out,” Warnke said. “Work continues to find hotspots, flare-ups, patrol those fire lines and continue to work towards 100% containment.”
The DNR is leading the Jenkins Creek and Munger Shaw fights, while the National Incident Management Organization recently took command of the Camp House and Horse River fires.
Fire danger likely to remain high all summer
DNR Commission Sarah Strommen says the wildfire situation “remains very dynamic,” with the risk remaining “very high in parts of the state” for more to break out.
“In 2025, we have already had nearly 1,100 fires start in Minnesota for more than 48,000 acres,” Strommen said. “Our annual average is 1,172 fires and 12,654 acres, so we are approaching that in terms of the number of fires. We are well over in terms of our annual average acres.”
With conditions still extremely dry across northern and northeastern Minnesota, Strommen urges residents to take red flag warnings and burn restrictions seriously.
“It is up to everyone, every single Minnesotan, to exercise caution and do our best to prevent wildfires, to prevent these kinds of situations that our friends up north have been experiencing,” she said.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Joe Moore echoed Strommen’s concern, warning that critical fire weather conditions are expected to continue through next week.
“In the past seven days, we’ve had less than 0.1 of an inch for most of northeast Minnesota, and for the month, we’re at about 50% of where we usually should be for the amount of rainfall,” Moore said. “In the coming days, we’re looking at hot and dry conditions with relative humidity values falling to 20% to 30% in northeast Minnesota.”
Moore says while the heavy winds earlier this month that rapidly fanned the fires won’t be in play over the next few days, fires could still easily spread due to hot and dry conditions.
Canadian wildfires could lead to another smoky summer
Crews are also battling huge wildfires just north of Minnesota in Canada’s Manitoba province, where officials declared a state of emergency on Wednesday after 17,000 people were forced to evacuate.
Minnesota is bracing for another summer of smoke, similar to what the state experienced in 2023 when Canadian wildfires led to 22 days of air quality alerts. Smoke created hazardous smog over cities, making it unhealthy to even be outside at times.
Alerts are in effect until Friday evening in northeastern Minnesota, with the Twin Cities even expected to see some haze by Friday.
The northwest corner of the state will be under an air quality alert from 6 a.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Sunday.
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Gov. Tim Walz to wildfire-stricken northern Minnesota: “The state is going to be there” News Channel 3-12.
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