Wildfire — Central St. Louis, Minnesota

2025-06-01 to 2025-06-13 · Central St. Louis, Minnesota

Event narrative

The Munger Shaw wildfire, located approximately ten miles southeast of Cotton, Minnesota, was detected late in the afternoon on Monday, May 12. Minnesota DNR, along with local fire departments, responded. Multiple aircraft were brought in to help slow down the active flame fronts, supporting the ground firefighting efforts. The fire was active in pine and lowland fuels, but favorable weather conditions led to slow growth of the fire. The fire was believed to have started with the spontaneous combustion of a hay bale. The fire was 95% contained by Monday, May 19th, but was not fully contained until June 13th. At one point during the early days of the fire, the mainline of the Canadian National Railroad was shut down as the fire spread to both sides of the tracks. The maximum size of the fire was 1,259 acres.

Wider weather episode

Three large wildfires began in mid-May and were not contained until mid-June. The smaller of the three fires was the Munger Shaw fire that reach a size of 1,259 acres and was finally contained on the afternoon of the 13th. The larger two fires were operated as the Brimson Complex. The Jenkins Creek fire reached full containment on June 21st with a maximum size of 16,490 acres. The Camp House fire was fully contained the morning of June 13th, reached a maximum size of 12,071 acres and affected around 150 structures.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1264668. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.