Minnesota wildfires still burning as evacuation orders remain in effect

Wildfires continued to burn in northeastern Minnesota on Thursday as evacuation orders remained in effect and smoke pushed air quality to hazardous levels in parts of the state, officials said.



Hourly readings had already surpassed previous records in the Twin Cities overnight, with more record levels possible, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) said.



The MPCA's alert, effective 8 p.m. Wednesday (0100 Thursday GMT) and scheduled to run through 11 a.m. Friday local time (1600 GMT) with potential extension, forecasts air quality reaching the hazardous maroon category across most of the U.S. Upper Midwestern state.



The Lake County Sheriff's Office has ordered an immediate evacuation of the Fernberg Corridor east of Ely since July 14 due to the Camp Fire, and opened a temporary evacuation point, not a public shelter, at the Babbitt Municipal building, the county said.



St. Louis County ordered an evacuation of part of the Echo Trail near the Sioux Fire, while Cook County kept a lower-level notice near the Little Knife Fire at the end of the Gunflint Trail, according to a Thursday fact sheet from the U.S. Forest Service and the Minnesota Incident Command System (MNICS).