Minnesota North College

July Fires (Bear Trap & Camp Fire) Near Ely

Current Minnesota North College Vermilion Campus Status: Level 0

Ongoing Updates

7/21/26

• Vermilion’s campus is not currently in any level of evacuation status and is operating normally.
• The safety of our students, employees, and their families are the top priority during this incident.
• The fires in the surrounding areas are being referred to in multiple ways. Collectively they are called the July Lightning Incident, and the individual fires that are most concerning are closest to Ely are the Camp Fire (About 6 miles East of Ely) and Bear Trap Fire (Approximately 20 miles north of Ely).
• Fires have burned over 60,000 acres in the United States with additional acreage in Canada.
• There are currently almost 800 fire personnel (7/21) assigned to the fire and that number is expected to climb daily for the foreseeable future.
• The Outdoor Learning Center—an off-campus program site—is in the SET evacuation status. It is being used to house wildland firefighters assigned to the incident and is not being used for campus activities.
• In addition to potential fire impacts, air quality has been a major concern. It has improved greatly over the last several days, but that can change based on fire activity and wind direction. Leadership is monitoring this daily, and will adjust operations/activities if necessary.
• College and campus leadership are meeting regularly and are planning for multiple fire-related scenarios.
• Our operational decisions will be based on St. Louis County decisions on evacuation status.
• At this point we are planning for students to move in at their assigned times and begin practice and classes as normal.
• If the campus, or other portions of the City of Ely are moved into READY, SET or GO, there will be changes in operations. Those will be communicated to students and employees as necessary.