Pair of new wildfires crop up in Boundary Waters

Greta Kaul, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jun 7, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS -- Fire crews are working to extinguish two new wildfires in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which the U.S. Forest Service discovered Saturday afternoon, threatening the safety of visitors in the immediate area, who are being asked to stay away.

The Forest Service believes the fires, both east of Crane Lake, started on knobs covered in pine stands. They were both spreading moderately down slopes, the agency said in a Facebook post Sunday morning.

Amid high-risk conditions and a series of large recent fires, the Forest Service declared restrictions on fires in the Boundary Waters on Friday that will expire June 30 unless the agency ends or extends them. Campfires are banned, but gas- and propane-fueled cookstoves are allowed.

The Tiger Fire is 22 miles east of Crane Lake, near Canada. As of Sunday morning, the Forest Service reported it was about 1 acre in size, between Tiger and Boulder bays on the east end of Lac la Croix.

The Forest Service noted there are several wilderness campsites, the Lac la Croix administrative site and a historic Forest Service structure in the area.

The 5-acre Loon Fire, which had been called the Shell Fire, is 11 miles east of Crane Lake, east of Loon Lake’s East Loon Bay.

There are several campsites in the area of this fire, which is also near the Sioux-Hustler Hiking Trail.

The Forest Service said the Birch Bay Fire, located on Superior National Forest Land 8 miles northwest of Ely near Burntside Lake, is fully contained. The Forest Service said in a Facebook post Saturday that rain had assisted firefighting efforts.

Fire investigators believe a chainsaw, belonging to a Forest Service crew prepping for a prescribed burn, started the fire. It burned about 35 acres.