A hard-to-reach fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has been completely contained.
The National Incident Management Organization announced the Horse River fire was 100% contained as of Sunday.
The fire, which spread to 13 acres, had to be fought by firefighters who rappelled from helicopters into the remote area. The fire had moved slowly across the forest floor making it hard to detect from the air. To remove their firefighting equipment from the area, crews paddled seven miles out of the BWCA to the landing at Echo Trail.
The larger Jenkins Creek fire, located southeast of Hoyt Lakes, was 94% contained as of Sunday. Crews of about 200 have been fighting that fire, which has impacted more than 16,000 acres. Near Brimson, the Camp House fire, which covers more than 12,000 acres, remains about 98% contained. The Munger Shaw fire, which spans more than 1,200 acres southeast of Cotton, was 95% contained.
Even as Minnesota wildfires have been reaching full containment, Minnesotans are still feeling the effects of Canadian wildfire smoke. A statewide air quality alert was scheduled to be in place through 11 p.m. Sunday.
