Wildfire Experts Sound The Alarm For A Potentially Active Season

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Minn. –You wouldn’t think with the recent snowstorm we experienced that there would be a need to talk about Wildfire dangers.

Woody Unruh, a meteorologist with the Duluth National Weather Service said, “New snowfall from last week’s major winter storm ranged from around 10 to 20 inches with around half an inch to one and a half inches of water equivalent in the snowpack across St. Louis County.”

That’s not nearly enough to make up for the dry winter. Before the snowstorm, the wildfire season had already begun and St. Louis County already had about 20 grass and wildfires take place. Experts believe that once the last of the snow melts, the fire danger will rise significantly, even in the city of Duluth.

“What’s interesting about this year is prior to snow again, year to date in 2024, we’ve had 12 grassfire responses,” said Duluth Fire Chief Shawn Krizaj. “So that’s showing that we’re already at literally almost half of what our average response is for an entire year and that’s in the first quarter. As an example, last year we went on no grass fires at all during the first year.”

Should a large wildfire happen in St. Louis County in the coming months, there is a new system in place online that will help people understand what actions need to be taken,” said John Brinkman The St. Louis County Emergency Operations Manager. The site is on the sheriff’s website emergency services hub.

Brinkman said, “St. Louis County GIS has been working on the emergency services hub. With that comes a county-wide-evacuation map a lot of these zones are predetermined, there’s over 1600 evacuation zones throughout St. Louis County. All of these zones can be modified on the fly to either make them smaller, larger, change the shape. But the Hub is online and accessible to anyone right now.” There are other online resources that can help you remain safe.”
https://sheriff-slcgis.hub.arcgis.com/

One is the Northland Alert, you can sign up for this on either the City’s or the county’s website. The system provides emergency notifications to alert the public about emergencies. You must sign up for this service.
https://duluthmn.gov/northlandalert/

On the DNR’s Firewise page, you can get tips on how to make your home safer from wildfires.
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/fire/index.html