US DISASTROUS WILDFIRE EXPANDING ACROSS UPPER WEST

MINNEAPOLIS, U.S.A. - While northeastern of USA had just waking up from a catastrophic attacks by a rare earthquakes and hurricane Irene, rapidly expanding wildfire in Minnesota's north woods spread a plume of smoke across the Upper Midwest on Tuesday, with haze smudging the sky as far away as Chicago and Milwaukee, where the Brewers closed their stadium roof before a night game.

• The haze was heavy enough that some people reported burning eyes and difficulty breathing in the Chicago area, about 965 kilometers south of the forest fire, the National Weather Service said.
• The plume came from a fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a lake filled region along the Minnesota-Canada border, which grew swiftly this week to cover nearly 414 square kilometers. No structures have burned and no one has been hurt, officials said.
• The residents of Isabella, a small town of about 200, were standing ready to evacuate if needed.
• The fire started on August 18 with a lighting strike 32km from Ely, but only began spreading quickly this week in windy, dry conditions. The fire raced 25km east in a single day from Monday to Tuesday.
• Winds of up to 40kph forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday were likely to spread the fire, dubbed the Pagami Creek fire for its point of origin, further. She predicted it would be days or weeks before the fire was under control.
• The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources agency's air quality monitor showed a spike in particle pollution throughout the day in the southeast part of the state including Milwaukee, and it issued an air quality alert for sensitive groups in the area.
• The haze forced Miller Park officials to close the stadium's roof before the Milwaukee Brewers took the field for a game against the Colorado Rockies, park officials said. The smoke also reached Michigan, where forecasters said it rode northwesterly winds from a cool front.

Jim Richardson, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Minnesota, said it wasn't unusual for the plume to spread so far, noting that smoke from Arizona's massive wildfire in May reached Minnesota. Richardson said changing winds on Wednesday may shift the plume more directly south of the blaze.

Source: Agency