UPDATE – 8:56 p.m.
Highway 2 has been reopened in the Mentor area. Early in the evening Highway 32, and Polk County Road 45 were reopened.
The roads were closed due to a massive grass fire that spread over miles and miles of land with the high winds and dry conditions, which prompted a Red Flag warning for the area.
The fire started about 12 miles east of Crookston and the fire was near the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife refuge and continued to spread throughout the afternoon and early evening. Firefighters from all over the area responded to help with the fire and they called in several firefighting planes to dump water from Maple Lake to try to contain the fire.
The fire was moving towards the Mentor area, but it started moving north. Several homes were evacuated north of Highway 2 near Mentor, but the fire never reached the town.
As of 8:50 p.m., the fire was pretty much contained, and firefighters were working on isolated hot spots in the area. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office plans to have a press release out late tonight or early Tuesday morning.
KROX News Director Rob Silvers is in the area and has been posting pictures (see below) and we talked with him live from the scene at 5:50 p.m. today. The interview is below.
KROX News Director Rob Silvers is in the area and has been posting pictures (see below) and we talked with him live from the scene at 4:15 p.m. today. The interview is below.
