Finland Businesses Take Care of Greenwood Fire Crews from Incident Command Post

Firefighters have been coming through the Finland Co-Op for daily essentials like snacks, clothes, and coffee they get for free.

FINLAND, Minn.- Other businesses in the small town of Finland have seen more firefighters coming through after the Eastern Area Incident Command Post moved there from Isabella while fighting the Greenwood Fire.

The Finland Co-Op a staple of the community since the 1900s, has been there for the firefighters’ daily essentials like snacks, clothes, and coffee they give them free.

Staff at the co-op say the fire has kept many tourists away, so that helps them focus on taking care of first responders and Finland residents.

“Since the pandemic, supply lines haven’t bounced back to how they were before the pandemic, and it stretches resources thinner when you have a fire,” Cashier Joan Beard said. “And you need these resources for the locals, the people who live here year-round.”

And as a reminder, the Superior National Forest still has a ban in place for burning personal campfires both there and in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.