GRATEFUL.

>> APPRECIATE IT.

♪ >> Cathy: IN ADDITION TO COMPLETING HIS FINAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION THIS WEEK GOVERNOR WALZ TRAVELED TO THE STEWART TRAIL WILD FIRE SITE ALONG THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR.

THE FIRE IS NOW 100% CONTAINED.

BUT NOT BEFORE -- IT CLOSED BUT NOT BEFORE IT CLOSED HWY 61 BETWEEN TWO HARBORS AND SILVER BAY FOR FOUR DAYS.

THE FIRE DESTROYED MORE THAN THIRTY STRUCTURES, INCLUDING EIGHT HOMES AND CABINS.

CHUCK OLSEN WORKS FOR WTPI RADIO IN GRAND MARAIS.

HE ALSO HELPED MPR NEWS THIS WEEK WITH OUR COVERAGE.

ALWAYS GAD TO SEE YOU.

>> YEAH, IT WAS -- >> Cathy: GOSH, HIGHWAY 61 IN THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR, BELOVED.

PEOPLE WERE SHOCKED THE FIRE CAME SO CLOSE TO BETTY'S PIES ON THE NORTH SHORE.

CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE TO HOW MUCH THE SHORE HAS CHANGED BECAUSE OF THIS FIRE?

>> YEAH.

NOW THAT IT'S REOPENED, IF YOU DRIVE THROUGH THAT CORRIDOR WHICH A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE BECAUSE THEY'RE COMING UP FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, BASICALLY BETWEEN BETTY'S PIES AND THE SILVER CREEK TUNNEL IT JUMPED TO THE LAKE SIDE OF HIGHWAY 61, WHICH I THINK MAYBE SURPRISED A LOT OF PEOPLE BECAUSE TYPICALLY WE THINK OF WILDFIRES HAPPENING MORE INLAND.

BUT YOU WILL SEE DESTROYED HOUSES, YOU KNOW, KIND OF CHIMNEYS STANDING IN RUBBLE, BURNED OUT VEHICLES, OF COURSE A LOT OF TREES BURNED OUT.

IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, 100% BECAUSE THE FIRE KIND OF JUMPS AROUND.

SO, YOU KNOW, A CHIMNEY NEXT TO A HOUSE THAT WAS RELATIVELY UNSCATHED.

YOU KNOW, THAT MAYBE THEY WERE ABLE TO PROTECT.

SO BUT, YEAH, IT'S KIND OF A, IT'S DEFINITELY BEEN A LITTLE BIT SHOCKING TO SEE.

>> YOU KNOW YOU KNOW, I'M WONDERING HERE, CHUCK, WE'RE GOING TO SEE SOME PHOTOGRAPHS BECAUSE YOU MENTIONED SOME OF THE DAMAGE THAT WAS DONE AND SOME OF THE DISCUSSION SO AS WE TALK WE'LL JUST ROLL SOME OF YOUR PHOTOS OVER WHAT -- THAT'S A GOOD EXAMPLE OF WHAT WE'RE SEEING, ONE OF YOUR PHOTOS RIGHT NOW, CHUCK OF A VIEW.

TELL US HOW DIFFICULT WERE CONDITIONS AS A PERSON COVERING THE STORY?

WERE YOU ALLOWED TO GET PRETTY CLOSE?

IT LOOKS LIKE YOU WERE PRETTY CLOSE HERE.

>> SO, YEAH, THESE ARE PHOTOS OF THE AFTERMATH, AND THIS WAS A, A POLICE ESCORTED ME A TOUR OF HIGHWAY 61 THAT I DID MONDAY.

AND THE FIRE WAS LARGELY CONTAINED AT THAT POINT.

OVER THE WEEKEND IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR ME TO GET CLOSE TO THE FIRE.

IT WAS SO WINDY THAT IT WAS DEEMED TOO DANGEROUS TO BRING MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA KIND OF CLOSE THE TO ACTION.

I WAS ABLE TO GET A LITTLE BIT CLOSE, LIKE COUNTY HIGHWAY 3 WHERE IT MEETS UP WITH HIGHWAY 61, SOME DEPUTIES KIND OF REFERRED ME TO THAT AREA AND I WAS ABLE TO GET SOME PHOTOS AND A LITTLE BIT OF VIDEO.

WELL, THERE IT IS, THAT'S THE AREA.

AND THAT WAS ACTUALLY STILL SMOLDERING.

SO, AND IN FACT THE NEXT DAY IT DID KIND OF RETURN AND JUMP ACROST HIGHWAY 3 AND SPREAD A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE THE WINDS HAD SHIFTED.

SO, YEAH, IT WAS DEFINITELY WITH, THE HIGH WINDS I THINK THEY DIDN'T WANT FOLKS THAT WEREN'T, YOU KNOW, FULLY TRAINED AND PROTECTED LIKE THE FIREFIGHTERS TO BE IN DANGER.

>> Eric: I THINK YOU POINTED OUT THIS WEEK THAT THIS IS PART OF THE NATURAL CYCLE OF WOODLANDS, REALLY.

>> YES.

I MEAN, IT'S OBVIOUSLY VERY TRAGIC FOR FOLKS THAT LOST HOMES AND YOU CAN IMAGINE A LOT OF US UP HERE ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE A GO BAG READY WITH YOUR TOOTHBRUSH AND A CHANGE OF CLOTHES AND IRREPLACEABLES OR SOMETHING THAT YOUR CHILD MAYBE DREW, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

BUT FROM AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE, THE BOREAL FOREST IS A FIRE-DEPENDENT SYSTEM AND FIRE IS KIND OF A REGENERATIVE AND NATURAL PART OF THAT ECOSYSTEM.

I'LL JUST GIVE YOU ONE QUICK EXAMPLE.

BLACK SPRUCE TREES ACTUALLY NEED THE INTENSE HEAT OF WILDFIRE FOR THEIR CONES TO RELEASE -- WHICH IS VERY KIND OF FERTILE RICH GROUND FOR THEM TO SPROUT.

WILD BLUEBERRIES ALSO WILL THRIVE AFTER A FIRE AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

SO IT IS KIND OF A NATURAL PART OF THE ECOSYSTEM, BUT, YOU KNOW, HUMANS ARE LIVING HERE IN THIS FOREST TOO, SO IT'S KIND OF A LINE THAT WE HAVE TO WALK.

>> Cathy: REAL QUICK HERE ABOUT 30 SECONDS LEFT, I KNOW YOU TALKED TO SOME EVACUEES HERE, CHUCK, DID THEY SAY, I KNOW IT'S A VERY TRAUMATIC EVENT.

WILL FOLKS REBUILD, DID THEY SAY S TO WHETHER THEY'RE COMING BACK TO THE SHORE?

>> I WASN'T ABLE TO TALK TO ANYONE WHO ACTUALLY LOST A HOME.

I TALKED TO AN OLDER COUPLE WHO EVACUATED, KIND OF SHOCKED BY THE WHOLE THING BUT ORTUNATELY THEY DIDN'T LOSE THEIR HOME.

YEAH, I WAS NOT ABLE TO TALK TO FOLKS WHO ACTUALLY DID LOSE THEIR HOME.

BUT I HOPE THEIR INSURANCE COVERS IT AND THEY'RE ABLE TO REBUILD.

BECAUSE, YEAH, IF YOU DRIVE THROUGH IT, YOU'LL SEE THAT DEVASTATION AND I'M SURE SOME FAMILIES WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO CONTINUE LIVING IN TWO HARBORS, SO WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

>> Cathy: WELL, CHUCK OLESSEN, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR WORK, GREAT WORK