Massive Wildfire Explodes Near Breezy Point In Minnesota’s Brainerd Lakes Area

Warm, dry, and windy conditions set the stage for dangerous fire weather across Central and Northern Minnesota on Friday and Saturday, with dozens of fires sparking up across the northern half of the state.

Up until Saturday, the largest of these fires was the Stewart Trail Fire, which started on Friday afternoon and quickly spread to more than 300 acres along the North Shore just north of Two Harbors.

READ MORE: Latest Update On Stewart Trail Fire Near Two Harbors

On Saturday, another fire that quickly exploded to around 600 acres in Mission Township; just east of Breezy Point and Crosslake in the heart of Minnesota's vacation lake country. It is now even bigger than that.

This fire, being called the Flanders Fire, is named as such due to the nearby Flanders Lake just about 2 miles east of Pelican Lake in the Breezy Point area. The Flanders Fire was reported around 1 pm and quickly exploded to about 600 acres by just after 3 pm, being pushed by westerly winds, forcing the fire to grow eastward from its origin point.

As of Saturday evening, estimates say the fire has grown to between 1,500 and 2,500 acres.

Crews have been responding from numerous fire agencies across the area, including the Minnesota DNR and local fire departments from Mission Township, Pequot Lakes, Ideal Township, Crosslake, Crosby, Nisswa, Brainerd, Deerwood, Fifty lakes, Emily, Ironton and other nearby departments.

Thankfully the Stewart Trail Fire was in a good enough of a spot on Saturday where some state and regional resources could be diverted from that fire on the North Shore to this fire, which quickly grew to double the size of the one near Two Harbors.

The City of Crosslake's Mayor shared a video on Saturday afternoon of the smoke plume from the blaze from the shore of nearby Big Pine Lake, just north of the fire.

Several homes, cabins, and camping areas have been evacuated as this fire has raged on through the afternoon hours and teams from both the air and ground battled the flames.

Crow Wing County Road 11 between Minnesota Highway 6 and Crow Wing County Road 3 has been closed through the afternoon as the fire has jumped the highway in a few places along the route.

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The latest evacuation map, courtesy of the City of Crosslake, shows the area (east to west) from East Horseshoe Lake Road to just past Fool Lake and (north to south) between County Road 11 (just north of Flanders Lake) and Upper Mission Lake being an evacuation zone. The areas to the south and east in yellow are in the "ready" phase, with people there being told to prepare to be ready to evacuate if needed.

As of 9:20 Saturday night, fire crews continue to work to protect buildings and ensure people and animals are evacuated while also attempting to contain the blaze. KSTP is reporting that the size of the fire has grown to somewhere between 1,500 and 2,500 ares in size as of Saturday evening.

Here's a look at the hellish scene (below) on what looks like County Road 11 as heavy equipment is moved in to fight the flames and aerial firefighting efforts are underway.

Groups of firefighters have been working with the help of aerial spotting to find and attack areas threatening structures or other areas deemed necessary to defend to prevent the spread of the fire.

To this point, there has been no containment perimeter around this fire announced.

Minnesota Incident Command is in the process of taking over the scene to coordinate efforts on this fire. Also known as MNICS, they have also been managing the Stewart Trail Fire on the North Shore.

This is a developing story. We'll provide more information as it becomes available.