Associated Press

REDLAKE,Minn.—Awildfire is still burningnearRed Lake in northernMinnesota, firemanagement of-ficials said Sunday.The North Minnie fire has burned more than 38

squaremiles.The fire, the largest of severalburning innorthwesternMinnesota, threatens private land, tim-berresources,amajorpower lineandafewprivatehunt-ing cabins inBeltrami IslandState Forest.Fire information officer Gill Knight said the North

Minnie fire is 30 percent contained."Prioritiesare tocontinue toestablishacontainment

line around the fire and then work on those areas ofpeat,"Knight said. "If wedon't get in thereandgetmois-ture on the peat, it can actually sit there literally overthewinter and then comebackupagain."Knightsaid150peopleareworkingonthe fire.Hesaid

cold and snow have keptthe fire frommovinginthelast couple of days.Roads in the area will

reopen as soon as fire-fighters no longer needthem, he added.Firefighters have a fire

near Karlstad, whichforced an evacuation ofhundredsof peopleandde-stroyed 11 homes and twodozenotherstructures lastweek, about 90 percentcontained.

Austin Daily Heraldnewsroom@austindailyherald.com

TheMinnesota Depart-mentof NaturalResourcesandtheMinnesotaIncidentCommand System needscooperation from the pub-lic tohelppreventandmin-imize fire danger, which isat a seasonal all-time highinmuchof Minnesota.The current fire danger

risk in much of southernMinnesota, includingMow-er County, is high, and noburning permits are beingissued in Mower. Recre-ational campfires are stillallowed, however, AustinFire Chief Mickey Healeyurges that localsevenavoidhaving recreational fires.“Respectfully, we don’t

want any open burning

right now, just for the po-tential,” he said.Droughtacrossmuchof

the state continues to posea threat for fires, andwild-fires innorthernMinneso-ta still have not been con-tained.“We have a unique and

dangerous combinationoffires that are not yet wellcontained up north, and aserious fire risk in thesouth that will continue tochallenge local emergencyresponseresources if addi-tional fires should start,”said DNR CommissionerTomLandwehr.Under such conditions,

Landwehr urges all Min-nesotans to take certainprecautions that include:—Exercisecautioninall

agricultural operationsand avoid operations infields and roadsides untilfire danger improves, par-ticularlythemowingof dryfields and lawns. Sparksfrommowers can easily ig-nite dry grass. Monitorweather conditions andconduct falloperationsdur-ing periods of higher hu-midity and lowwinds.—Avoidtargetshooting,

particularly the use of thepopular new “explodingtargets.” Firing guns andhitting exploding targetspresent a high risk.—If possible, donot run

motor vehicles or otherheavy equipment in dryfields. The heat of the en-gine and exhaust systemcan cause fires.

—Followall burningre-strictions. Campfires andotheropenburningarepro-hibited in several areas ofthe state. Check the DNRwebsite for information.—Carry a fire extin-

guisher when operatingmachinery in dry areas.—Have a family and

business emergency re-sponse plan ready in casefire threatens an area nearyou.—Immediately call 911

if a fire is ignitedandmovetoasafe location. Attempt-ing to extinguish fires un-dercurrent conditionscanbe extremely hazardouswithout proper personalprotection.Formore information,

gotowww.dnr.state.mn.us.

Preaching firepreventionWhile Austin’s newest fire truckwon’t be ready for

viewthisweek,plentyof otherswillbeduring2012FirePreventionWeek,Oct. 7-13.TheAustin FireDepartment, as usual, willmake its

roundstoareaschools throughout theweekto talkaboutfire safety and howsome of the depart-ment’s equipmentworks.But for those

whoaren’t inschoolorcan’tmake it, theAustinFireDepart-ment will hold itsopen house from 6to9p.m.Wednesday,Oct. 10 at the firestation. Truckswill be on display, alongwith firefight-ing equipment and firehose games for children. Moreeventsmaybeheld outside,weather permitting.

—Austin Daily Herald

Austin Fire& Safety Co.

433-8569409 3rd Ave SE • Austin

Dry Ice

SALES ANDSERVICE

RECHARGING

Austin firefighters prepare to attack a fire engulfing sheds and vehicles behind the home of Richard Riles of Lansing last Octo-ber afternoon. Herald file photo

By Matt Petersonmatt.peterson@austindailyherald.com

Speaking of fire safety,firefightingmaybecomealittlemoreefficient for theAustinFireDepartment inabout amonth.The Austin Fire De-

partmentpurchasedanewfire truck, which will re-place two older trucks itsold that were nearly thesame size. In place of the1975 Ford Telesquirt and1995Pierce fireengines, isa thedepartmentwillhaveanewSutphen75-footLad-

der truck.The truck,withmuch newer technology,can do the job of both oldtrucks, according toAustin Fire Chief MickeyHealey.“It’s smaller thansome

other trucks thatwehave,but ithas thecapabilityof

doing five different func-tions,” he said.Furthermore, replacing

two truckswithonewill beasavingsto local taxpayers.The Austin Fire Depart-ment tries toreplaceoneofits large trucks every 25years.

Austin firefighterscustomized thenew truckto their specifications,and the truck is beingcompleted in Ohio. FireChief MickeyHealey andtwo others from theAustin Fire Departmentwill fly to Ohio for initial

training on the truck af-ter it is completed onOct.24. Then they will bringthe truck back to Austinwhere the rest of the crewwill begin training.Healey expects the truckto be fully operational bymid-November.

Fire Department to receive new engine

Risk of fire high in Mower County

Wildfires continuenear Red Lake, Minn.