Minnesota wildfires spread smoke and ash across region as Wisconsin DNR sends support

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Minnesota wildfires spread smoke and ash across region as Wisconsin DNR sends support
By: Charles Benson , Photojournalist Alex Buswell, Jay Sirkin

last updated 6:15 AM, Jul 17, 2026

https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/minnesota-wildfires-spread-smoke-and-ash-across-region-as-wisconsin-dnr-sends-support




Catherine Koele, a wildfire prevention specialist with the Wisconsin DNR, said the smoke is coming from fires in both Minnesota and Canada.

"It's very, very smoky, dense smoke. So air quality alerts all across the board. Ash is falling," Koele said.

Koele said the fires do not respect borders.

"The smoke is really coming from Canada as well as Minnesota. It's a landscape that does not stop at the border, so a lot of the smoke that you're seeing is from Canada. They have very large, widespread fires happening up in that province as well," Koele said.


Wildfires burning across Minnesota's Superior National Forest and into Canada are blanketing the region in dense smoke, triggering air quality alerts, dropping ash across a wide area and prompting assistance from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR.)

The Wisconsin DNR is actively supporting Minnesota's response, Koele is on location to help with public information about the fire .