A fast-spreading wildfire forced a Texas family to abruptly evacuate their campsite near Pipestone Falls in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on Monday, July 13.
Bailey Shinn, a part-time Ely resident from Galveston, Texas, had been camping for five days with her husband and three young children.
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The family chose the location due to its close access to the wilderness area.
“We go every summer, but this was our longest (trip),” said Shinn.
“We’re not new to this, and that certainly helped to have that confidence in an urgent situation.
… But especially traveling with two 5-year-olds and a 6-year-old, it turned into an intense day that was certainly scary at times.”
The family entered the wilderness area on July 8, when initial reports indicated the wildfires north of Ely were small and distant.
They set up camp seven miles of paddling and portages away from the nearest exit point.
“We woke up, and people were going to see the falls across from us, and coming out to fish,” said Shinn.
“We had no real reason to believe it was anything other than a normal day.”
Shinn checked her phone around noon on Monday and received a text from her mother stating that public access to the area would close Tuesday.
Although their trip was scheduled to end Wednesday, no official evacuation notice had reached them.
“We’re largely removed from news and notifications, but we did always have a phone on,” said Shinn.
