Welcome to the BWCAW blog of Ely Outfitting Company and Boundary Waters Guide Service!

See our websites at ElyOutfittingCompany.com and BoundaryWatersGuideService.com.

We are a Boundary Waters canoe trip outfitter, Quetico outfitter, and guide service in Ely, Minnesota. This Boundary Waters blog shares photos, stories, humor, skills, and naturalist insights from guiding in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

Most entries are from our founder and head guide, Jason Zabokrtsky. He is the Boundary Waters Blogger.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

August 29 BWCAW Fires Update and New Campfire Restrictions for Some Areas

CONTACT:  Becca Manlove, Information Officer, West Zone, Superior National Forest, 218-365-2093; 218-343-3026.

Campfire restrictions for the Gunflint and portions of the Tofte Districts will go into effect after midnight tonight. Fires will be allowed only between 7 p.m. and midnight in the restricted area. The restrictions apply only to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) and only to the eastern portions listed in the forest order.  Click the link below to access the order and a map.

Current Fire Activity:

Knife Lake Fire: 188 acres.  Fire is north of the South Arm of Knife and south of  Amoeber Lake: Township 65, Range 6 West, Section 18. Fire managers have successfully suppressed a fire that was in an unsafe and inaccessible location by bringing it out to natural barriers. Suppression was implemented in an efficient and effective manner using limited aerial and hand ignition along with other holding resources on the ground. A weather front passed through last night but did not produce any rain. Gusty winds tested control lines and they held well. At 1:00 p.m. today rain was beginning to fall on the fire. Containment is at 60% and rising steadily. The South Arm of Knife closures of campsites, waterways, and portages are still in place.

Fires now out:

• Disappointment Lake Fire: quarter acre, discovered Saturday evening, August 24, 2013. Declared out on  8/27/13.

• Sedative Lake Fire, north of Ima: Township 64, Range 7 West, Section 17. Reported at three tenths of an acre in size. Called out this morning.

Resources: Sixteen fire fighters and four public safety staff on the Knife Lake Fire; two deHavilland Beaver floatplanes at the Ely Seaplane Base; ___staff on initial attack.

For a location map of the three fires, the South Arm of Knife Lake closure order, a closure map, fire restrictions order and map, and daily fire updates please see our website: www.fs.usda.gov/superior.