A week ago today, authorities in northeastern Minnesota took the rare step of ordering the closure and evacuation of the entire Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the Superior National Forest.

Scores of lightning strikes July 7 had birthed some 16 fires in the dry pine forests across the Arrowhead, and between July 8 and July 12, a number of them grew rapidly in size amid a heat wave.

At this point, some 780 firefighters and other personnel and have joined a growing arsenal of equipment in the effort to contain the most dangerous blazes, including an aerial fleet of planes and helicopters dumping water. But officials generally agree that nothing short of sustained rain can truly subdue the blazes.

No deaths have been reported. Three firefighters have suffered minor injuries, officials said Monday.

The fires are part of a larger pattern of wildfires in the U.S. and Canada that has spoiled air quality across much of the Great Lakes. Here’s a recap:

As of Monday, 68,000 acres had burned on the U.S. side of the border. That’s about the same size as the 2007 Ham Lake Fire, the second-largest fire in Minnesota this century.

Two of the largest fires have prompted officials to gradually expand evacuation and evacuation-readiness orders. The Bear Trap, Sioux and Wolfpack fires north and west of Ely have prompted evacuations along the Echo Trail, while the Camp Fire east of Ely has led to an evacuation of a corridor along a 15-mile stretch of the Fernberg Trail. Both evacuations include businesses, residences, resorts and seasonal cabins.

The evacuation of the federally designated 1.1 million acre wilderness itself continued Monday, officials said Monday, although it wasn’t clear if any travelers remained in the backcountry.

Overnight storms and favorable winds should improve air quality across Minnesota Monday, with air quality index readings moving into the yellow, or moderate, category, according to the state forecast. Some readings in the Twin Cities area had reached green Monday morning.

However, conditions across a large swath of the Midwest, from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to southern Illinois and east to Cleveland, were dismal Monday morning, with conditions ranging from unhealthy for sensitive groups to unhealthy for everyone. The forecast called for gradually improving air quality over the next two days.

Overnight summer camps across Minnesota and Wisconsin have been evacuated. Some, like the YMCA’s Camp Widjiwagan near Ely, have girded the camp against potential flames, going so far as to sink cherished wooden canoes to save them. Others, including numerous camps around the metro and southern Wisconsin, sent campers home due to air quality. Camps appear to be resuming activities on a camp-by-camp basis.

The economic toll of the fires has continued to mount, most notably in Ely where outfitting and cabin rentals have ground to a halt, and where leaders canceled its marquee event, the annual Blueberry Arts Festival scheduled for this weekend. Even though the fires aren’t menacing other Up North destinations, such as the North Shore and the Gunflint Trail outside of Grand Marais, some visitors have begun canceling trips, frustrating tourism leaders.

Both political parties have been united behind the firefighting efforts. U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, both Democrats, stood alongside U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, a Republican, during a news briefing last week.

Gov. Tim Walz has declared a state of emergency that has allowed the National Guard to be deployed to the area. The Executive Council, a group of other statewide leaders, have extended that through Aug. 11. Any further extension will require action by the state Legislature, raising the possibility of a special session next month.

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Bob Timmons and Jana Hollingsworth of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed.

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