June 18 – Around 60 acres of forest land was consumed this afternoon by a fast moving wildland fire just to the south of the Embarrass Four Corners area. The blaze started on the west side of State Highway 135, the result of power line brought down by high winds. The fire quickly jumped across the highway and began moving to the east. Multiple aircraft including: two CL-415’s, two CL-215’s, two Fire Boss planes, and two helicopters battled the blaze from above while crews from the US Forest Service, Minnesota DNR, Embarrass Fire Department, and Pike-Sandy-Britt Fire Department worked the fire on the ground. Minnesota DNR Conservation Officers, Minnesota State Troopers, St. Louis County Sheriff’s Deputies, and St. Louis County Rescue Squad personnel closed down Highway 135 and surrounding roads in fire area. According to a spokesperson with the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center (MIFC), the intensive aerial firefighting operation prevented the fire from spreading to a structure which was being threatened at the time. By 7:15 p.m., a bulldozer had managed to put a line around 70% of the fire. State Highway 135 was re-opened around 8:00 p.m. No injuries were reported and mop-up operations are expected to continue through the weekend.
