Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is giving an update Thursday morning on the wildfires in Northeastern Minnesota.
Walz says that the three major fires are now at about 80 percent contained.
"The good news in all of this was, no loss of life and no significant injury," Walz said. "And that is a testament to the professionalism, the coordination."
The news comes with a warning from National Weather Service Meteorologist Joe Moore, however.
"In the coming days, we're looking at hot and dry conditions with relative humidity values falling to 20-30% in northeast Minnesota," Moore explains. "And while it's not gonna be as windy as it was back in early to mid-May when we had the significant fire growth, it's still gonna be hot and dry enough that we could see fires rapidly grow."
Moore says it goes beyond that, with the rest of the summer shaping up to be similar.
"We are looking at, for the month of June, temperatures remaining above normal," says Moore. "The odds look like it will stay in a pretty warm weather pattern through June and into July and August."
Moore and the Governor were part of a briefing on conditions, and the recovery efforts, as emergency management teams gather more data about the scope of damage which burned thousands of acres in remote areas of St. Louis County, north of Duluth.
Also a part of the breifing was Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Sarah Strommen.
"I think it's important that to note that the status update really demonstrates that Minnesota, our response system works, and that our emergency responders work well together across levels of government to protect life and property and our natural resources," Strommen said.
The damage in some areas - and to many structures - was significant.
"To the folks who lost everything, the state is going to be there," Walz explains. "We're going to be coordinating, as we already have, with our federal partners to make sure that the recovery effort, both from the personal side of the losses that were in this and to the public infrastructure that was damaged, making sure you've got the energy companies out there replacing poles and the things that we need to do on some of these bridges."
Strommen adds that this early season fire damage in Minnesota is unusual - and already at levels the state sees for the entire season, which obviously has a long ways to go.
"In 2025, we have already had nearly 1,100 fires start in Minnesota for more than 48,000 acres," she said. "Our annual average is 1,172 fires. 1,172 fires and 12,654 acres."
Strommen says there's one more crucial thing for people to remember this summer: be careful.
Currently, there are open burning restrictions in far northeastern Minnesota with some restrictions in the rest of the state. But as Strommen notes, no matter what the warning level is, you should always be wary when it comes to fires.
"Take burning restrictions seriously, to watch red flag warnings and take heed and practice basic fire prevention skills, many of which can be found on our DNR website," says Strommen. "So that we all work together as Minnesotans to reduce the number of wildfires and manage this risk together."