Wildfire — Central St. Louis, Minnesota

2025-06-01 to 2025-06-21 · Central St. Louis, Minnesota

Event narrative

The Jenkins Creek Fire ignited on Monday, May 12, 2025, around 1PM local time. It was detected east of County Road 110 and north of County Road 16 near Jenkins Creek, approximately 15 miles southeast of Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. It was believed to have been started by a discarded cigarette from a passing vehicle. The fire rapidly expanded due to hot temperatures, low relative humidity, and strong south winds, burning through mixed boreal forest and grassy ground cover, including areas heavily infested by spruce budworm, which contributed to the fire's intensity. The fire initially exhibited extreme behavior, including crown fires and rapid spread through dense forested areas. The presence of dead and dying trees, particularly those affected by spruce budworm infestations, provided ample fuel for the fire's growth. After a couple days, the spread slowed as crews responded, winds subsided, and moisture moved into the area. Firefighters were able to take advantage of that opportunity and built a line that held through another wind event a few days later. Since then, containment continued to be effectively established with full containment achieved on June 21st. The fire reached a maximum size of 16,490 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 1264669. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.