Evacuees Return as Wildfire is Contained

KARLSTAD  (AP) - Evacuees have returned to their homes in a small northwestern Minnesota town after fire crews contained a rapidly-spreading wildfire fueled by brisk winds.

State fire marshal Bruce Roed said Wednesday the fire is 95 percent contained and has not grown since Tuesday night when about 400 people returned to their homes in the Kittson County town of Karlstad.

The wildfire earlier burned about 12 square miles and destroyed six to eight homes in the Karlstad area. Authorities evacuated Karlstad's nursing home, school, assisted living center and a group home as the fire blanketed the community in thick smoke.

City Clerk Sue Dufault says people were evacuated to Hallock, about 20 miles to the northwest.

Roed says the possibility of 6 inches of snow Wednesday is welcome news to firefighters.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved)