Aftermath of the Ham Lake Fire

Posted Thu, March 19, 2009 - 10:16 PM
minnesota, photography

On May 4, 2007, a careless camper in the Boundary Waters area of northern Minnesota left a fire burning without fully extinguishing it. Somehow, somewhere, a few sparks must have been blown into the nearby woods and landed on flammable material, maybe pine needles. The few needles burned hot enough to start a few twigs on fire, and the twigs didn't just go out, but managed to set even larger chunks on fire. Shortly thereafter, the first reports came into the ranger station at Grand Marais of a smoke plume near Ham Lake. By the time the Minnesota DNR and U.S. Forest Service were able to assess the site, it was obvious that a full wildfire was in progress.

Aftermath of the Ham Lake fire

Unfortunately, the Ham Lake area was well within the swath of destruction caused by the 1999 derecho that swept through the Boundary Waters and destroyed millions of acres of boreal forest, leaving a tangle of dead and downed trees that baked to dangerously dry conditions over the subsequent years. It was only a matter of time until fire and dry wood met.

The weather didn't cooperate either. Temperatures were reaching close to 90 degrees, hot air blown in by a strong wind from the south, and there was no chance of rain in sight. For the first couple of days, the fire doubled in size every day, moving north and east toward the homes and lodges along the Gunflint trail and Canadian border. The local authorities went into a state of high alert, calling in firefighting crews from other states and enlisting the help of their counterparts on the other side of the border.

Progression of the Ham Lake fire

But as residents of southern California know so well, even the most monumental human efforts can still be overwhelmed by a lack of cooperation from the natural world. Despite the firebreaks, and water dropped from specialized planes (thankfully easy to find due to the plentiful lakes), the fire still grew. May 11th was a day of unfavorable weather, and the fire surged across the Canadian border. Three days later it reached its largest extent, and began to dwindle due to the tenacity of the firefighting crews combined with a shift in the weather towards the cool and calm. By May 19th the fire was fully contained, after burning 75,000 acres of the northern forest.

Two months later, I was up in Grand Marais and decided to drive up to take some pictures of the aftermath. The lower portion of the Gunflint Trail was still lush, as I remembered it. About thirty miles up, though, there was a distinct change. I started to see patches of dead brown pines at the side of the road, and things rapidly declined as I entered the boundary of the major burn area. The change was very, very obvious. I stopped near the Magnetic Rock trail and hiked out to see what was left. Some trees were left standing:

Charred trees after the Ham Lake fire

Others trees had fallen:

Fallen trees after Ham Lake fire

The scavengers were doing their part to clean up. These are called "scarlet cups".

Scarlet cups on burnt wood

Without a canopy to absorb the sunlight, the way was opened for opportunistic undergrowth, providing a spurt of green. The pink flowers are the (aptly named) fireweed, because they're often the first showy flowers to colonize areas after a burn.

Regrowth after the Ham Lake fire

So please... when you go start a fire anywhere, make sure you put it out. Sure, many fires are started naturally (by lightning), and that is as it should be. Without human intervention, the average time between fires in this ecosystem is every 30 to 150 years. And to be honest, now that it's happened, the forest is actually going to be all the better for it in another couple of decades - but we don't necessarily want to add to the risk through pure foolishness. Next time it may not be in an area that would normally burn, next time it may not miss most of the homes and resorts, and next time someone could be killed.