Northern MN State Forest Fire Now 80 Percent Contained

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Fire crews have the upper hand on a fire that has burned thousands of acres in a northern Minnesota state forest.

The wildfire in Beltrami Island State Forest, just south of Warroad, broke out on Wednesday. Since then, nearly 5,000 acres have been burned.

But thanks to over 100 firefighters and cooler and wetter weather, the fire is now considered to be 80 percent contained Monday morning.

Fire officials say it's rare to see a fire of this size this early in the year. They say if this fire had happened two weeks from now the outcome could have been much worse.

There's actually still frost several inches underground.