A fire threatening two garages on adjacent properties was extinguished in the early afternoon Tuesday by Nisswa Fire Department and DNR Forestry firefighters.
"One of the residents was burning a little stuff outside," said Nisswa Fire Chief Richard Geike. "I suppose doing a little yard clean up and it just got away from her."
A crew of 15 Nisswa and four forestry firefighters headed the fire off to prevent it from spreading closer to the nearby buildings. Though it was small, the fire moved fast. Geike estimated 1 3/4 acres of grass and leaf litter were burned, requiring about an hour and-a-half and 5,000 gallons of water to extinguish.
"There are so many dry leaves in there," Geike said. "That and the wind really pushed it along."
This fire comes in the midst of prolonged burning restrictions. Currently, fires throughout the lakes area are not allowed.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Don't burn. It's as simple as that. You just can't burn right now," Geike said. "You look at the 10 day forecast and there isn't much rain in sight. If we don't get much rain, it will take a while. I still drive down the road and see people throwing cigarettes out the window. They need to stop that. You have to be careful in conditions like this. You have to be. You can be driving through the woods on a four wheeler and start a fire. You have to be careful. It just doesn't take much. It's just a little extra precaution this time of year."
Nobody was hurt and no structures appeared to be damaged.
The National Weather Service in Duluth on Tuesday issued a fire weather watch to be in effect Wednesday afternoon through Wednesday night.
"The combination of gusty south winds and low relative humidity value will produce potentially critical fire weather conditions during the day Wednesday," the weather service reported.
Wind speeds of 15-20 mph, with gusts up to 30 mph, are expected Wednesday, the weather service reported, along with humidity values of 15-20 percent. The high temperature on Wednesday is expected to be in the upper 60s.
The fire weather watch is in effect for most of northeastern Minnesota, including Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Todd and Wadena counties.
