Stewart Trail Fire, Two Harbors, Minnesota

True view Fire view

⟷

True view (left): as the eye sees it.
Fire view (right): infrared (SWIR), sees through smoke and brings out the heat.

🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 brown = already burned
🟠 orange = fire right now

Drag to compare: normal photo on the left, heat brought out on the right.

Green: vegetationBrown: already burnedOrange: fire right nowSentinel-2 · Copernicus

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location2 miles northeast of Two Harbors, MN

What's burningClosed Timber Litter

How it's behavingMinimalCreeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.

ComplexityType 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionPrivate land

Cost so far$770,000

Glossary: what each term means

Minimal

Barely moving. Low, thin smoke.

Smoldering

Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

Creeping

Moves slowly, hugging the ground.

Moderate

Spreads with low, steady flames.

Active

Spreading evenly and steadily, with visible flame.

Extreme

Fast and unpredictable.

Running

Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.

Flanking

Grows along the sides, not head-on.

Backing

Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.

Crowning

Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.

Short Crown Runs

Climbs into the crowns in bursts and drops back down.

Torching

Whole trees flaring up like torches.

Isolated Torching

Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.

Group Torching

Whole clumps of trees flaring at once.

Spotting

Wind carries embers through the air and starts new fires ahead of the front: that is how a fire jumps a road or a firebreak.

Wind Driven Runs

The wind pushes it in long runs in one direction.

The ones marked ● are the behaviors that make a fire harder to stop. They are not a warning or an instruction: they are the description written by the agency in charge. For decisions, always follow your emergency services.

The story so far

The Stewart Trail Fire, which began on May 15, 2026, has reached full containment after burning for 183 days near Two Harbors, Minnesota, located in Lake County about two miles northeast of the city. The incident, managed by a Type 3 Team as a Type 3 Incident, burned across 375 acres of private land primarily fueled by closed timber litter. Throughout its prolonged duration, the fire experienced an average daily growth of approximately 2 acres per day. Fire behavior is currently reported as minimal and creeping.

A total of 46 personnel were assigned to suppress the blaze, bringing the total cost of operations to about $770,000. While this local incident concludes its activity, the broader national landscape for 2026 reflects a distinct context, with 3,540,413 hectares burned across the country so far—a figure that sits 35% below the two-decade average. This occurs outside the region's typical fire season, which traditionally runs from June to October.