ST. PAUL, Minn., July 20 (UPI) -- The largest fire in a century in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness threatened campgrounds and cabins Thursday along the Gunflint Trail.
About 44 square miles in the North Woods have been affected by the fire, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.
Officials said that at noon Thursday the blaze was still short of the point where evacuations would be ordered. They said anyone in the area would be told to leave two hours ahead of the fire.
North of the border, at least eight smaller fires were reported in Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. Because the fires were all deep in the park, they were being allowed to burn.
In California, where the gigantic Sawtooth Complex fire in the San Bernardino Mountains was contained Tuesday, firefighters continued to battle smaller fires. The San Bernardino Sun reported that fire officials could not predict how long either would take to contain.
The Millard fire was in an area so remote fire crews had difficulty getting close to it.
We're talking about (the Millard fire) more as a long-term fire because it's burning in the wilderness zone," Dan Dresselhaus of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection told the Sun.
