Fridley residents, the northwoods community is where they escape year-round. Today, they learned from their neighbors that all that remains on their property is their chimney. “We lost everything,” she said,

The bar has had some “rude” rubberneckers treating the tragedy “like a bonfire,” said Jessica Willemarck, but by and large, the proprietors have seen “just a lot of concerned people trying to figure out what’s all going on.”

A new incident command team will take over the response to the two largest fires beginning Wednesday, state officials said.

Wildfires have exploded in size across parts of northeastern Minnesota north of Lake Superior, destroying at least 40 homes and buildings, as unseasonably high temperatures and low humidity will continue to drive dangerous fire weather on Tuesday.

An update issued at 7:46 a.m. revealed that the Jenkins Creek Fire expanded to 6,000 acres, a significant increase from the 1,500 acres it had devoured as of Monday evening.

Officials say three wildfires fed by dry conditions and strong winds in St. Louis County now encompass hundreds of acres each, forcing evacuations.