Officials with the US Forest Service announced Thursday afternoon that a portion of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness will be closed starting this weekend due to fires across the border in Canada.
The notice details a series of closures near the Canadian border, all in response to fires in Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario near the Iron Lake and Crooked Lake area on the border.
The emergency closure order from the USFS explains that these closures are being put in place out of consideration "for the public's health and safety due to wildland fires in the vicinity". Due to the difficult nature of finding/contacting those in the BWCAW, the measure is being considered preventative in the event the fire spreads across the international border.