Don't let the green deceive you — in the last three months there have been more than 1,350 wildland fires in Minnesota, fire experts say. That's more than we may get all calendar year during normal weather conditions.
Video from a fire last week near Baudette in northern Minnesota shows a 300-acre fire started by lightning that burned through lowland brush, conifers and timbers. It took crews on the ground and in the air nearly a week to contain.
Another fire near Bigfork in Itasca County burned up through the treetops.
Fire behavior experts said these fires are burning fast and hot, right up through the crowns of trees, making them dangerous to fight. "People on the ground can generally work around 4-foot flame lengths. Once we get up to 8-foot flame lengths we can't even use equipment anymore and we have to bring in aircraft," said William Glesener, a wildfire operations supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.