MN wildfires: Expert explains what led up to fires

Welcome back live. Look outside White Bear Lake on our sunday morning. We're sitting at 77 degrees going for another day in the nineties and might notice a little more haze, a little bit of smoke in the air from the wildfires today. May as well talk about that again in a few minutes, but didn't notice it so much yesterday. Might notice it a little bit more today because the fires in the boundary waters as we've all been watching very, very closely. We're concerned. We're, you know, watching every move that the firefighters are making and how it's affecting businesses. Difficult for many of us to see this cherished part of our state go through such a challenging time and also watching closely friends of the boundary waters. The climate and conservation manager Sam Reed joins us now. Sam, good to meet you. Good to meet you too. So as you are watching this, I'm curious your take because you know, we've we've heard from so many experts through this this week and as we always do. I mean, while fires up and up north Canada, this is not new, but as we're watching it this round and we are so impacted by the smoke this week, you know, we're kind of hearing from some folks are saying, oh, this is mother nature. She kind of clean up after herself. This is kind of what forest do. Others say no, no, no, this is far from normal. I'm curious your take. Yeah, I appreciate that. Um, you know, like you said, fires are a normal part of the boundary waters ecosystem. They're necessary for the boundary waters. What's weird about these fires is that they're occurring right in the middle of the summer. Most of the time fires up north happen in the spring and they happen in the fall. Uh, it's weird to have them right in the middle. And if you actually zoom out from the boundary waters a little, you'll see that there's fires all the way up north through Ontario. It's actually this 300 mile long wall of fire. And that's weird that all of these things have basically caught just like that. And we a lot of people are really thinking that that is a climate impact because we saw a pretty quick flash drought and uh, that that just led to these things popping off and becoming really hot, really intense, really fast. And you've, I'm sure, been up there many times. And we're just thinking about the people that are that are impacted and the businesses. I mean, this is yes, there might not be a lot of structures where people live in that area, but there's, you know, there's rangers and people have businesses that this is their livelihood and this is their peak time of the season. Yes, we were just on a webinar with the owner of, uh, saw bill outfit outfitters and then the gun Flint Lodge. And they're talking about how people are canceling boundary water strips in September, which is total mistake. Just take it day by day. Uh, the folks up there need your support. Uh, and just just follow along day by day. Don't cancel two months out. Uh, really, this is, this is something that, uh, can change on a moment's notice. Wildfires can be put out by two or three inches of rain pretty quick. Um, and hopefully that is the case so that, you know, the outfitters can can get a little bit of relief. And I know that not just the outfitters, but there's, you know, Airbnb businesses and resorts and folks that, you know, you don't, you think of going up north and going for a hike in a bike ride, and it's hard to do it when it's so, so, so smoky. So what are you thinking about? Is, you know, this goes on. Hopefully, like you said, hopefully we just get Mother Nature downpour in this all, you know, ends as quickly as possible. But what are your thoughts and what are your concerns about just long term? You know, because people will remember this, too. You know, I think, uh, the boundary waters is never 100% safe. Like it's you are going on a back country experience. So I would say, like, going forward, fires are a natural part of the system, and we're starting to see that with climate change, these things can kick up really fast. So what I would say is people that are going out there, you know, be prepared, know what to do in case of a wildfire, at least signs of a wildfire and obviously be really careful with fire when you're up there. Yeah, and it is nice to to be remote, but also some of the technology where you at least have a satellite phone or something in case of any sort of emergency. Good to have with you. All right, Sam, thank you. Appreciate it. Your time and expertise very much. Thank you. All right. Till next time.