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From Isle Royale National Park's account of the fire, written in 2022, when its cause was still under investigation.
The Mount Franklin Fire was spotted on the morning of August 13, 2022. NPS / Bridget Byrne.
On the morning of August 13, 2022, smoke billowed up near Three Mile campground on Isle Royale. Watchers on the Mott Island dock reached a familiar conclusion: the island was on fire. Almost exactly a year earlier the Horne Fire had burned about 335 acres on its northeast end. Fire had long been absent from the island — now there had been two in two years.
Like 2021, the summer of 2022 was warm and dry across the northern Midwest, and conditions were right for wildfire. The Mount Franklin Fire started on a small ridge where the Tobin Harbor and Mount Franklin trails meet.
The fire
First estimated at 10 acres, it had already swept the rocky outcrops by the time crews reached it that afternoon, leaving brushy ground bare with ash and trees blackened. After that, fire behaviour stayed minimal — mostly creeping along the ground, with the odd tree torching. Once mapped, it was put at 6 acres.
Fire smouldering in the thick duff of Isle Royale's soil. NPS / Bridget Byrne.
Cause and response
The cause was suspected to be human. Investigators sought information about an illegal campfire and camp on the Mount Franklin Trail on the evening of August 12 and the following morning. For human-caused fires, the park's Fire Management Plan calls for suppression, and with busy visitor areas close by, the response was swift.
Firefighters from two agencies in two states responded. A single-engine air tanker from Minnesota scooped water from Lake Superior and dropped it on the fire; crews also cut firelines, monitored the fire and mopped up.
A wildland firefighter hoses down hot spots. NPS / Bridget Byrne.
Timeline
| Date (2022) | What happened |
|---|---|
| August 13 | Fire reported by eyewitnesses and visitors; park fire staff and rangers respond. Nearby trails are cleared and closed, Three Mile and Lane Cove campgrounds evacuated, and the superintendent closes trails, campgrounds, a dock and cross-country camping zones in the area. The air tanker drops five loads — about 4,000 gallons of water. |
| August 14 | A Type 3 incident commander from Hiawatha National Forest takes command; a ten-person hand crew arrives from Superior National Forest. |
| August 15 | Better weather slows the fire; the closures are narrowed. |
| August 16–20 | Suppression and mop-up continue. |
| August 21 | The Superior National Forest crew leaves. |
| August 24 | The incident commander leaves. |
| August 26 | The fire is declared 100 percent contained; all trails, campgrounds and docks reopen, though several cross-country camping zones stay closed indefinitely because of hazards from this fire and the Horne Fire. |
What it left behind
The fire burned a hot, dry, rocky ridge of fire-adapted plants such as jack pine and blueberry. It left many dead and fallen jack pines — but jack pine needs fire to reproduce. Its cones are serotinous: sealed shut, opening only in intense, direct sun or fire.
Regrowth in the burn area. NPS / Bridget Byrne.
A second wildfire in two years is a reminder that Isle Royale's ecosystem is adapted to fire. As the six charred acres regrow, what will rise from the ashes?
Sources
- National Park Service, Isle Royale National Park, "2022 Mount Franklin Fire on Isle Royale." https://www.nps.gov/isro/learn/isle-royale-mount-franklin-fire.htm
- Isle Royale's fire pages: https://www.nps.gov/isro/learn/wildland-fire.htm
- Rewritten in hubnx's own words.
В изданияхIsle Royale National Park
Лицензия: CC0 1.0 (общественное достояние) · По материалам www.nps.gov
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