COTTON — An evacuation order has been issued for residents "south of Comstock Road, west of Upper Bug Lake (Road), East of Lily Lake, and North of Wood Tick," due to spread of the Munger Shaw Fire, St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay posted on social media Wednesday afternoon.

St. Louis County has set up an evacuation center at Old School Lives, 9165 U.S. Highway 53 in Cotton. Ramsay also mentioned the Cotton Community Center, 9087 U.S. Highway 53, as an evacuation point.

The Minnesota Incident Command System late Wednesday afternoon reported that the Munger Shaw Fire was 1,700 acres.

"St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management are coordinating public safety efforts, including evacuations and road closures," the MNICS said in a news release. "Firefighters continue working to establish fire containment lines around the fire with heavy equipment and on-the-ground personnel. The cause of the fire is still under investigation."

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has lifted its Red Flag Warning for Minnesota, the MNICS said, but discouraged outdoor burning.

The Jenkins Creek Fire east of Hoyt Lakes jumped from 6,800 acres Tuesday to 20,593 acres Wednesday morning, according to the federal government’s Incident Information System at wildfire.gov.

East Range Police Chief Jorden Klovstad told the News Tribune that Hoyt Lakes is “in the ready stage,” should the fire get close enough to warrant a partial evacuation. Klovstad said he is relying on the U.S. Forest Service and St. Louis County emergency staff for updates and risk assessments.

The local police department has been receiving calls from concerned residents.

“It’s so easy for people to panic. But we don’t need to act on assumptions. We’ll make decisions based on the facts,” Klovstad said. “We’re all working together to keep everyone informed,” he said. “It’s not like a tornado. People will have advance notice if they need to move.”

While Klovstad did not wish to discuss details prematurely, he said shelter space has been identified and will be prepared, if needed, “for people with no place else to go.” He said plenty of transport assistance should be available.

If an evacuation is necessary, Klovstad advised folks to focus on the safety of their pets, important paperwork and daily essentials, such as medicines, as they assemble a “go” bag.

Ramsay said in a Facebook video early Wednesday that while the weather and the fires are not 100% predictable, a forecast wind shift should keep the fire away from Hoyt Lakes.

The National Weather Service in Duluth reports that rain in the Wednesday forecast may help prevent conditions from worsening, but might not help the firefighting efforts much. “There will be some isolated showers and storms possible in the afternoon hours but impactful precipitation is not expected,” NWS said.

Thursday, however, may bring larger storms, but precipitation chances have fallen to 30%-50%. The chance of rain lingers into Saturday. This should keep the relative humidity from dropping as low as it has been for the past several days. Winds will switch to the east, changing the trajectory of the fire.

Ramsay warned that lightning accompanying predicted storms may pose an issue.

Ramsay said 146 buildings have been destroyed by the Camp House Fire near Brimson, “and that number is actively growing.” Evacuations for the Brimson Complex fires are “status quo,” he said.

More structures have been lost in the Jenkins Creek area, he said, but the fire was too active Tuesday night for crews to get any further details.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced that it would not be reporting publicly on the locations of potential structure damage, “in an effort to protect privacy.” The sheriff’s office will contact the impacted landowners directly. They said to contact Matt Pollmann with any questions at 773-844-6449.

Ramsay said the U.S. Forest Service has established a public hotline at 218-206-6805 for questions about the Brimson Complex fires, which the Camp House and Jenkins Creek fires are now being called. The Eastern Area Complex Incident Management Team took command of the Brimson Complex on Wednesday morning.

“Investigations are ongoing for all three wildfires in St. Louis County, while fire crews continue to focus on full suppression efforts,” the Minnesota Incident Command System reported on Facebook late Wednesday morning.

Evacuation resources

Wildfire evacuation centers are available for any residents impacted by current evacuation orders.

St. Louis County Public Health and the American Red Cross opened the shelter at the Fredenberg Community Center, 5104 Fish Lake Road, Duluth.

A second center, Old School Lives, 9165 U.S. Highway 53, is serving as an evacuation point for the Munger Shaw Fire area.

“These centers are a place where you can meet with representatives from the American Red Cross and St. Louis County Public Health to get help and learn about resources available for you,” and will provide food and phone-charging opportunities, the county reported.

For evacuation orders in St. Louis County, go to its “ready, set, go!” zone map. The color-coded map shows which evacuation advisories are in effect, denoted in yellow, orange or red, and how residents should prepare themselves and their property.

Lake County residents must use that county’s “ready, set go!” zone map.

The U.S. Forest Service has closed a portion of the Laurentian Ranger District, prohibiting visitor entry at campsites, recreation sites, trails, roads and lakes within specified areas.

“These emergency restrictions are necessary for the public’s health and safety due to wildland fires in the vicinity of the affected lands, roads, waters, trails, and all recreation sites,” the closure order reads. “These restrictions will remain in effect for as long as they are posted on-site and until terminated by the forest supervisor.”

You can find details about closed areas at the Forest Service’s website.

Walz responds

Air and ground crews from across the U.S. and Ontario arrived in St. Louis County to provide aid to the three biggest active wildfires in Minnesota, state officials said Tuesday.

Gov. Tim Walz hosted a news conference in St. Paul to address the response efforts at the Camp House, Jenkins Creek and Munger Shaw fires.

Walz noted that Minnesota usually experiences, on average, a little over 1,100 wildfires per year. The state has seen 970 fires on more than 37,000 acres so far in 2025.

“Last night, a lot of our firefighters (were) out there with no sleep, and pretty dangerous conditions out there,” he said.

No injuries have been reported at any of the wildfires.

Sarah Strommen, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said fire danger conditions have been very high this season, and “extreme” since Sunday. She advised the public to adhere to the National Weather Service’s Red Flag Warning advisories and the DNR’s burning restrictions.

“These are dangerous fires that are still moving,” Walz said. “Just don’t burn. It is just too hot, too dry, too dangerous.”

Patty Thielen, director at the DNR’s forestry division, said in her nearly 30 years working there, the weather over the last few days is “really unprecedented.”

Thielen noted that the three St. Louis County wildfires were zero percent contained as of early Tuesday afternoon, and that the dry and windy conditions Tuesday and Wednesday are conducive to wildfire spread.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced around 2 p.m. Tuesday on Facebook the pre-evacuation of residents in the Kane Lake, Marble Lake and Thomas Lake areas.

“Due to the fire movement, you may need to evacuate,” the post read. “If an evacuation order is confirmed, an official will notify you.”

Lake and St. Louis counties will notify residents when they need to evacuate.

Ryan Williams, incident commander trainee for the Camp House Fire, said during a news conference in Two Harbors late Tuesday morning that the fire was moving north of Indian Lake and south of Town Line Road; it had just reached Murphy Lake.

Around 80 local, state and federal responders were fighting the Camp House Fire, Williams said. He said it's been a "whack-a-mole" effort because spot fires were igniting due to dry fuel and high lake-effect winds.

“Firefighter public safety is the No. 1 thing we are focused on as the Incident Management Team," he said.

DNR staff are managing the Munger Shaw Fire, while a Complex Incident Management Team will take the helm of the Camp House and Jenkins Creek fires at 8 a.m. Wednesday, she said.

John Cunningham, assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said during the statewide press conference that Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are helping wildfire efforts by sharing information with state agencies and providing other support.

“Recovery is going to be vitally important to the communities impacted,” he noted. “This is a significant event.”

Bemidji firefighter Jake Wettschreck was part of a crew awaiting orders in Brimson on Tuesday.

“We’re a structure-based fire department, so we’re here to help the properties, the houses, the infrastructure in the fire, as opposed to fighting the fire directly itself,” Wettschreck said. "That’s pretty rare that we do that on a scale this big.

“I’ve had previous experience as a resident in incidents like this, so I understand what it’s like, being able to give back, and what that means to people.”

Camp House Fire

The Camp House Fire has grown to more than 14,000 acres since Sunday and consumed over 140 homes, cabins and other buildings.

Evacuation orders were still in place for residents affected by the Camp House Fire.

The area of County Highway 44 has been particularly “devastated” by property loss, Ramsay said.

The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office reported on Facebook at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday that the Camp House Fire was moving north, so Minnesota Incident Command closed County Highway 16 from the intersection of St. Louis County highways 110 and 16 to the intersection of Forest Highway 15 and County Highway 2 in Lake County. Traffic was directed north.

Walz authorized the Minnesota National Guard to assist with the Camp House Fire on Monday. The U.S. Forest Service also deployed additional helicopters and planes to help fight the three wildfires.

Jenkins Creek Fire

The second wildfire, Jenkins Creek, ignited Monday morning about 14 miles southeast of Hoyt Lakes, east of the intersection of county roads 110 and 16. It grew to 1,500 acres by the evening and was more than 20,000 acres as of Wednesday morning.

The unincorporated community of Skibo, in Bassett Township, was evacuated. Pre-evacuation warnings were issued Tuesday to other residents along County Highway 11.

“There is active growth of the fire to the north and west,” Ramsay said Tuesday night.

Munger Shaw Fire

The third wildfire, Munger Shaw, started Monday afternoon northeast of Canyon and southeast of Cotton. Reports from various sources indicated the fire was 1,700 acres Wednesday.

Residents in the eastern half of Cotton Township were evacuated, but that order has since been lifted.

“Right now, the DNR is somewhat optimistic” about the suppression efforts at the Munger Shaw Fire, Ramsay said.

Public safety concerns

This story was last updated at 4:15 p.m. May 14 with information about an evacuation order for the Munger Shaw Fire and that the Red Flag Warning was lifted. It was first posted at 10:16 a.m. May 13. Check back for updates.