UPDATE: More Residential Evacuations as Greenwood Fire Spreads
UPDATE: LAKE COUNTY, Minn. – On Tuesday afternoon, the Red Cross announced they are opening the Finland Community Center as a Temporary Evacuation Point as of 4:00 p.m. in partnership with Lake County.
This TEP is available in response to those displaced due to the Greenwood wildfire.
LAKE COUNTY- A wildfire near Greenwood Lake has led to an evacuation of the McDougal Lake Recreation Area in Lake County.
“So looking for information and we heard big fire, and pretty close moving kind of in this direction and it’s a concern,” said resident Craig Lindberg. “You start to think about what if and what do you do to get ready.”
People in the McDougal area were given an evacuation warning Sunday night, followed by a mandatory clearance of the area Monday morning.
“We went up this morning and evacuated these people out there,” said Lake County Sherriff Carey Johnson. “There’s three engines in the—fire engines in the McDougal lake area right now, along with a couple of water tenders in order to help out with suppression when needed.”
The cause of the forest fire remains unknown but seems to have started near a Minnesota power line. As of 2 p.m. Monday, the fire has reached 1500 acres, spreading more than 500 acres overnight.
“Our biggest concern right now is any new start that we might have,” said Forest Service Incident Commissioner Jeb Backe. “We are really limited on resources in the area, and so people just being very cognizant of what’s going on around that.”
Lake county highway one will be shut down Monday night as winds are moving the fire north.
Additional plans for evacuation are being made for areas north and west of the fire, near the small town of Isabella.
“We haven’t gotten any notifications but we are in here what should we do to get ready day,” said Lindberg. “You know, important papers, my guitar, the dog food, what’s important. Kind of get ready for it in case we get the warning, winds pick up, fire grows, gotta be ready.”
More updates on the active fire will come as first responders continue to address the situation.
