Gunflint Trail fire under control

GRAND MARAIS, Minn., May 19 (UPI) -- Firefighters said Saturday the northern border wildfire that burned 76,000 acres was virtually contained on the Minnesota side but not yet in Canada.

The Ham Lake wildfire in the Gunflint Trail region was at least 85 percent contained in Minnesota and was projected to be completely contained Sunday, the Duluth News Tribune reported. In Ontario, the estimate was closer to 50 percent contained.

The Cook County Sheriff's Office said the Gunflint Trail's evacuation order would be lifted Tuesday. The sheriff's office allowed property owners back into the evacuation area Saturday to assess damage.

The county assessor's office now says 140 structures were destroyed by the fire, including 10 year-round residences. The damage was estimated at more than $8 million.

The fire is believed to have started from an unattended campfire two weeks ago.

Now that the fire is diminishing, local business people and residents were counting their blessings, the Star Tribune reported.

"We still have the Boundary Waters (Canoe Area Wilderness)," Ted Young, who owns Boundary County Trekking and Poplar Creek Guest House B&B with his wife Barbara, told the Minneapolis newspaper. "We still have the beautiful lakes. And even where it's burned, it's not all burned."