Firefighters now have a wildfire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of northeastern Minnesota more than 50 percent contained. A Monday morning update says the fire is 53 percent contained. The size remains about 146 square miles.
Hundreds of firefighters continue to make progress in containing a huge wildfire in northeastern Minnesota that began a month ago. A spokesman for the firefighters, Larry Helmerick, said Monday the 147-square-mile fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is 19 percent contained, an improvement from 11 percent on Sunday.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is advising people to take precautions if they smell smoke or see haze from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area fire.
Authorities in Benton County are investigating a series of arson wildfires. Sheriff Brad Bennett says there have three such fires already this spring. The grassfires pose a threat to the public, natural resources and private property.