Governor Tim Pawlenty today directed the Minnesota Army National Guard to send two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and crews back to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) to help fight fires that have now prompted evacuations along the Gunflint Trail.

Two fires that were started by lightning 10 days ago have grown from 200 acres to about 4,000 acres since yesterday.

“Very windy and dry conditions make this a potentially dangerous situation for residents and visitors along the Gunflint Trail,” Governor Pawlenty said. “I am ordering the Guard back to the BWCA to help fight these new fires.”

The Famine Lake and Red Eye Lake fires are located south of the Gunflint Trail and north of Brule Lake. Both have grown quickly within the last 24 hours and are now within 5 miles of the Gunflint Trail.

At approximately 2:00 pm today, the Cook County sheriff's office requested the evacuation of the Gunflint, Loon, Tucker and Mash Lake areas because of the approaching fire. The evacuation area also includes the area between Gunflint Narrows Road and the Old Gunflint Trail. Emergency personnel are notifying residents now and will ask them to go to the community center in Grand Marais.

A 20 member incident management team and local fire departments are currently fighting these fires and two other smaller fires in the BWCA. Additional crews are headed to the area today. Including the Army National Guard helicopters, additional air resources have been requested including two land-based air tankers and three more helicopters. Each of the Blackhawk helicopters will carry a 600 gallon water bucket. The Guard crews and helicopters are now in the BWCA and will work under the coordination of the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center.

A “red flag” warning has been issued for the area due to warm temperatures, low humidity and winds from 10 to 20 MPH. A “red flag” warning means that there are critical fire weather conditions and the potential for explosive fire growth potential.

In July, Governor Pawlenty also directed the National Guard to send helicopters and crews to aid firefighting efforts in northern Minnesota. At that time, the fire in the blowdown area of the BWCA was located south of Seagull Lake on U.S. Forest Service lands near the end of the Gunflint Trail.