St. Louis County debuts new wildfire evacuation map

DULUTH — Last week’s winter storm provided temporary relief from the region’s ongoing drought, but snow is already melting quickly.

At a news conference Wednesday, April 3, St. Louis County debuted a wildfire planning website with an evacuation map and — along with other emergency personnel from Duluth and Ely and officials from the Superior National Forest, Department of Natural Resources and National Weather Service — explained how officials are preparing for the increased risk of fires this season.

“Unless we do see a trend toward increased precipitation in the coming weeks as we head into mid- to late April, we do expect a period of dangerous fire weather conditions to emerge,” said Woody Unruh, National Weather Service Duluth meteorologist.

There were over 20 grass fires in St. Louis County before the snowstorm, and the active spring wildfire season is expected to pick back up again soon.

1 of 2  — Minnesota Drought Map April 2, 2024

Contributed / National Drought Mitigation Center

2 of 2  — April Wildfire Potential 2024

Contributed / National Interagency Fire Center

“We [officials] do talk and work on plans, preparations and training exercises throughout the year,” said Josh Brinkman, St. Louis County emergency operations manager.

One of those preparations is the new evacuation map. St. Louis County residents can enter their address to see what evacuation zone they are in and that zone’s status. The map utilizes the Ready, Set, Go program, indicating what level of preparedness is necessary.

Brinkman said the county public health department has been working with the American Red Cross to update shelter locations in case of evacuation.

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Duluth Fire Chief Shawn Krizaj said his department responds to an average of 30 grass fires each year. This year, they’ve already responded to 12.

“We’re already at literally almost half of what our average response is for an entire year, and that’s in the first quarter,” he said. “As an example, last year we went on no grass fires at all during the first [quarter].”

Superior National Forest Supervisor Tom Hall said the Forest Service is also getting resources ready for when fires occur.

“How we’re preparing for that is, it [fire risk] could be higher than average, so when you think of 2021, when you think of other severe fire years, we’re being prepared for those types of events,” Hall said, “not knowing if that’s going to actually occur or not, because a lot of times it depends what comes later in the year.”

Officials encourage residents to practice the Firewise program and prepare the area around their homes in case of fire. Laura Murphy, DNR Firewise specialist, said the key is to start around your home. Homeowners should clear their roofs and gutters of debris, move flammable material like wood piles away from buildings, remove items stored under decks and care for trees and grasses in a fire-safe way.