Drought fuels unusually high wildfire activity in Minnesota Downed trees hamper efforts to fight 65-acre blaze in Boundary Waters. July 14, 2021 — 6:13pm Text size Copy shortlink: Crews fighting the Delta Lake blaze in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness have finally hacked through waist- and chest-high piles of old blown-down trees to actually reach the fire and are starting a containment boundary around it. The 65-acre fire is the largest of four burning or smoldering across the Boundary Waters and Superior National Forest as soaring temperatures and persistent drought across Minnesota's crispy landscape fuel outbreaks. A fifth fire broke out Tuesday near Bemidji.