BWCA Fire

[Jill]

I came across this HSOforum with some incredible pictures of the fires in the BWCA.

BWCA fire1

BWCA Fire2

[LEECH21]

Incredible! Those flames look like they are at least a hundred stories high. Are those fires good or bad? Sometimes they can be good for new growth.

[Powerstroke]

Those are AMAZING photos!! I love the one of the hsolist-215 ready to dive down right on the their boat.

They won't be proclaimed good or bad until the fire is safely controlled and nobody has been hurt.

That being said, fire is a natural ingredient to the evolution of a forest. Long ago before man learned how to control several acres of inferno, fire would spread from the plains in the west all the way through the great north woods. This burns off dead material on the ground, provides heat to germinate seeds and kills off undesireable plants.

In the blowdown, this fire is finally burning off the large fire load of fuel and is providing the ingredients necessary to help this area regrow into a pristine forest again. It won't be in my lifetime or even my childrens, but it will be a wilderness again.

[rushing]

Wow amazing photos! Terribly destructive but a forest needs to occasionally burn to be healthy.

[Tom Wilson]

Those are great--sometimes its as simple as being in the right place at the right time.

[wplatehunter]

Nice photo's I will be in the Ely area this weekend, but I hope not that close.