Rain Expected to Prevent Forest Fire from Growing

ELY  (AP) - A half-inch of rain over the next couple days is expected to keep a large forest fire from spreading in northeastern Minnesota.

More than 780 firefighters are working the blaze in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Fire information officer Doug Anderson says one firefighter suffered an injury Monday when a tree, knocked down by a bulldozer, hit his leg. Anderson says the firefighter was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Firefighters Tuesday began to move into areas of the fire in the northeast and southwest which were previously unstaffed. Ten more crews, some of them replacements, are scheduled to arrive Wednesday.

Authorities say the fire, which has spread to 147 square miles, is 30 percent contained. With rain Tuesday and Wednesday, the fire wasn't expected to gain much ground.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)