Ely Community Response: Ely Wildfires Part 1

Join a conversation with a couple folks with boots on the ground related to the Ely area community’s response to the “July 2026 Lightning Incident," a complex of wildfires in the BWCA Wilderness and beyond that have initiated ready-set-go evacuation protocol for many of our friends and neighbors.  

Bria Schurke is an emergency medicine physician assistant who was born and raised in Ely. Her diverse career includes a stints as a wildland firefighter, wilderness guide, and time abroad working in public health. 

Megan Wind is the creative content manager for Save the Boundary Waters. She has been creating visual content and translating complex messages clearly across various communication mediums for a decade. She moved to Ely four years ago. 

Bria and Megan are two members of a team of people who formed the Ely Community Response as a way to help Ely area residents respond to the wildfires. 

Ely Community Response 

Looking for places to donate to support? 

CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS: 

2:05 Introducing Megan Wind

5:55 Introducing Bria Schurke

14:36 What is the origin story of the Ely Community Response effort?

16:16 How / when did the fires start?

18:25 Circling back to the origins of the community wildfire response

21:29 Being smoke ready -- Air quality index, N95 masks, air purifiers, and knowledge is power

30:31 Preparing for the future, contributing to clarity

35:58 How did you choose which communications channels to employ?

38:44 We've rallied other people to come join us, becoming a network to help connect dots

40:54 A strong community response reminds us we have agency and reminds us we are resilient

42:24 We want to help the community be better prepared

43:05 Looking ahead a few days at a time

43:55 Ely is a strong community, people are well connected and willing to take care of each other

45:02 This is a replicable model

48:40 Open for business? Yes, and it's complicated.

52:13 How can people best support Ely?

Boundary Waters Connect is the sponsor of the Wilderness Edge Podcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Knowing intuitively, I guess as a group that there is gonna be a gap in needs and that we have the skills as a team of friends with different skill sets to like come together quickly and then support the community.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

You can only plan for so much, but especially in this fire situation, which is really unprecedented for this area, you kind of have to be reactive and proactive at the same time, but mostly reactive because even our own needs, like our power, are shifting and changing.

Lacey Squier 0:48

Welcome to Wilderness Edge, a podcast about the people who make up the everyday experiences of life on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota. I invite you to join me, Lacey, in conversation with a couple of folks with boots on the ground related to the Ely area community's response to the July 26th lightning incident, wildfire situation, as it is called by the U.S. Forest Service. Hello, Bria Shirkey, and Megan Wind. Hello. We're happy to be here. Yeah. Hi. Welcome. Okay. So there's a lot to discuss. There's you know very well that there are a series of wildfires on the landscape. And we actually all were just at a U.S. Forest Service, like a public information session last night, talking about the nearly 70,000 acres of wilderness that are actively burning at this moment. Um I wonder I've I've brought you here today because you two have been key members of this grassroots effort to serve the community and respond to the needs of the people in the context of the wildfires. Before we get to that specific effort, would you maybe each take a turn introducing

Introducing Megan Wind

Lacey Squier 2:05

yourselves to our listeners?

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Yeah, um, I'm Megan Wind. Uh, I've lived in Ely for about four years. Um, I came here because I've been working at Save the Boundary Wars for almost a decade. Um, and I've just always really loved Ely and always kind of saw myself living up north and did a lot of moving around and then finally decided it was time. Um so moved up here, have really fallen in love with this community. Um, it's even in this time, is so strong, and people are just so community-oriented and connected, and um, yeah, that's why I continue to choose to stay here. So yeah.

Lacey Squier 2:41

Thank you. And you're with Save the Boundary Waters, what's your role?

SPEAKER_01 2:44

I am the creative content manager, so I manage um basically everything that's a little more visually oriented or a little bit of social media, graphic design. Um, I manage some video projects uh as well as our website. So I wear a lot of hats that are more visually leaning, I suppose.

Lacey Squier 3:02

Yeah. Well, and I also think of you as someone who's always keeping in mind like a true comms professional's understanding of what your average audience member like can and will absorb in terms of information and messaging in any given moment. Cause I'll send out, like, I'll draft an email with like 7,000 words, and you'll be like, ma'am, what are the bullet points? What are the headings? You have you have a real knack for understanding how to translate information for a particular um medium, right? Whether it is a social media site or or an email or a Substack or something. So you have you have a real ability to your translator.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Yeah, I would say so. I think my superpower is just trying to get in the mind of whoever the reader, listener, viewer, what like what are they interpreting? How are they interpreting it? Are they only reading the headlines? Are they skimmers? Do they love a deep read? So just trying to think about all audiences at once and trying to just figure out what's the big message and what are we trying to get across. And I think that also bleeds into other parts of my life that you include the sever right now. So yeah. And you are a true lover of aesthetics, though. I do. I do love when things look good. And I love when I can push people to make them look better.

Lacey Squier 4:25

Well, it's top of mind. The word aesthetics is top of mind because I just did my folk school intro to humanities class on the book Your Brain on Art. We were talking about aesthetics. And there was this a student in the class who's like, I actually don't like art, I don't pay attention to art. Art isn't for me. And I was like, Wow, I'm so glad. Like, I was just thinking to myself, like, what would it be like if my husband Eric was in this class? And here you are. And I was like, Eric, you know, is someone who, like this student, probably would say, Oh, I don't like, I don't do art. But it's like, but I know for a fact he loves the aesthetic of the wilderness. Right. So it's like, even if you aren't thinking about art per se, you can have an like a very embodied preference for the way something looks and how something is designed and how it it can really have a a feeling that gets conveyed, and you're really tuned into that in always.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Yeah, and I think that's something that's interesting too, is like, because there is art which can be more expressive and more from an individual's way of perceiving the world, and then there's design, which is like specifically for function a lot of the time, not always, but um, so it's like how do you design something so that more people can function with it better? Um, so people might not realize that they do care about those things, and maybe it's just you like all your books in a straight line. That is still design. So sometimes it's just preference and function coming together, and and aesthetics can be a part of that too.

Lacey Squier 5:51

So amazing. Well, thank you. We're gonna circle back to all of

Introducing Bria Schurke

Lacey Squier 5:55

that, but let's meet Bria. Good morning.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

Hi, tell us about tell us about you, introduce you to us. I'm Bria Shirke, and I was born and raised in Ely. My parents are Paul and Sue Shirke. Many people know them of the wintergreen world, and uh my parents are transplants to Ely, but we're kind of deeply ingrained in this community since I was born. Um, and we started out living in a very tiny home off more or less off the grid, not by choice. And uh they bought some property out on White Iron and just created our life for our family, and it took off with the Wintergreen clothing store and then the dog sledding business. My dad still runs the Wintergreen Dog Sled Lodge out on White Iron. And so I grew up in that world, spending a lot of my summers uh traveling in the wilderness and around the world with my parents, and growing up in the life of a family in living with the logistics of running two small businesses and trying to raise my parents both trying to raise a family with a small business in Ealy and just what that meant. Uh my childhood every day after school, going actually to what is now the folk school. I uh I have been, I mean, yeah, accumulative of months, years of my life in that building as a as a child, like black and white tiles. That was I remember when it was fishermen headquarters. Yeah. We would go in and buy those licorice, like Native American pipes every day. And they sold all sorts of interesting, probably politically incorrect toys now. Um, but would love to play around there, and then it was a um a soda shop, fountain shop kind of thing for a while, and then my mom had it as the outlet store. Uh, and then eventually when she sold the business, it became the folk school. But I still like have dreams of being from childhood memories in what is now the folk school.

Lacey Squier 7:50

I love that you mentioned the black and white tile floor because as a person who's been closely affiliated with the folk school for many years, and that kitchen remodel is amazing. And I look at it and I'm like, and we'll still have style. And I just can't wait for new floors. But when they're gone, I'll be sad. Yeah, I know it.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

It's memorable. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, but yeah, so I was fortunate to just grow up with a very adventurous family whose priority was to instill appreciation for the wilderness, but also this community. And it's interesting for me now. So I then went to college. I became a mountaineering and climbing instructor. I was kind of uh what you'd call a dirt bag for a long time. I was a big wall climber actually for a while in Yosemite, and I traveled, I guided mountaineering courses in Alaska, and I was a wildland firefighter for the autonomo crew out in Spokane, Washington. Yeah, I just that was a brief I it was a I it was a great experience. It and uh it was a one and done experience for me. But yeah, I did a um work for the Autonomous Hot Chat Crew. I would just worked on the 20-member crew line, uh hammering a Pulaski all day in the heat and smoke, and so uh it's been helpful. So Pulaski is like a it's like a pickaxe, and you just dig and you you so a lot of our firefighters here are in crews of about 20, and you'll sometimes see them at like yesterday at the meeting, they were walking in unison as a group of 20 across the street and they stay in their crew, and it's just it's a I think part of the culture too. You stay with your crew, you walk in your line. And um, when you're out, when they are out digging a fire line, the f there's usually five firefighters in front with chainsaws cutting down large brush and trees, and the other 15 are just digging, digging, digging with Pulaskies all day. And um, yeah, it's like a big uh I don't know, how do you it's just a big pick, a pick shovel thing. And you just you try to dig a line of a certain perimeter, but just you just keep moving, and it's supposed to create a barrier for the fire. It's really hard work, you're dirty, you're sweaty, you're grimy. Um, and as a petite-ish woman, you're expected to you know keep up with the larger men, and that's just the deal. And uh so a lot of respect for the firefighters are here who are here right now working in like 100 degree heat with an AQI of 900. You know, there's no way you can wear a mask in these seats. Plus, you're wearing all the Nomex and the large heavy boots, and it's rigorous. But I do want the community to remind like remind them this is a job uh when I did it, I was I was paid, I was compensated appropriately, paid well, you know, and and and was cared for with catering and housing. Our needs are met. And I I cannot represent, I can't speak as a representative anymore as a firefighter, but but I do have some experience, and I just yeah, so I want people to be reassured that they are professionals, they're well trained, they're well cared for, they have a great logistics team that is managing their needs.

Lacey Squier 11:02

Yeah, and we'll talk about this. Is the first part of uh of a multi-part series discussing this current, like I said, the July 2026 lightning wildfire quote situation, so-called complex of fires up here. Um, and we're gonna talk to an expert in wildfire management. So we'll get to hear a little bit more about that. But I am I am fascinated to learn that that's part of your story. You are a person of deep intrigue. And someday I'm gonna want to ask you more questions about what it is like to grow up in Ely, Minnesota as the child of Paul and Shirky. Um, but tell us maybe a little bit more about what you're up to now.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

What is your day job now? So I was I left Ely for about 10 years and worked in public health mostly internationally. Um, I worked in Somalia and Rwanda and India, and then I decided I wanted a little more stable life after traveling so much, and I came back to Ely just to visit, and I ran into Willie Vosberg on a whim, who I grew up with. And 10 years later, we're now married and raising a toddler who's incredible. And I'm now working as an emergency medicine physician assistant for Accenture at the both at the trauma center in Duluth and that and in various critical access hospitals in the area. So I primarily work in Virginia in the summers, and it's great. I mean, I'm serving our my community. I know this community best. I I think it's really important to know your patients' language and understand their realities. And I um it was an awesome opportunity to work in different parts of the world. Um, but I don't speak Somali and I don't speak Kinya Rwanda. I understand northern Minnesota best. And so I think there's something to that. And so yeah, I we're here in the summers. My husband runs a resort out on the Fernburg, he's a fourth generation resort owner. It's William or it's um Vosberg's custom cabins on Moose Lake. He also has a tow boat business, and so we live there in the summers and we're in Duluth in the winter. Wow.

Lacey Squier 13:08

You have um many layers of experience that are highly relevant to wilderness life.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Yeah, yeah, and I was a I will say I was a wilderness guide for many years, both um for Knowles. I was an instructor for Knolls and as a mountaineering and climbing instructor and backpacking. I worked for Wilderness Inquiry for many years and then various um like uh um outdoor therapy organizations in Minnesota and then of did a lot of years of dog sled guiding for my family. So yeah, I think I've never seen myself as a community leader ever, but uh people know who I am because they saw they knew they recognized me and from when I was little. Actually, it's been interesting with this thing happening with Iliad Community Response. I've had a couple people come up to me and said they've seen us on our seen me on our Facebook posts, and they're like, We we just remember you as a little little like little Bria, you know, like that's the what people that's that's the timestamp memory of uh me. And now I'm back and I'm 40 with a baby, and like so um it's neat to make to reconnect with the community, and I I feel a little disjointed because I I haven't really been that well connected, but I feel like I've can take my experiences and background now, and this was just an opportunity that landed in my lap, and just it's I guess I have things to offer, so I guess so.

Lacey Squier 14:32

Yeah, let's talk about that.

What is the origin story of the Ely Community Response effort?

Lacey Squier 14:36

Tell me the origin story of the Ely community response effort.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Yeah, so on Tuesday, July 14th, um, I saw a message pop up on one of the Facebook groups from Emily Rose, who's one of our local city council members, and she was just looking for a group to kind of get organized around um a fire response. And so I had spent the previous 48 hours just aggressively looking at maps on watch duty and other um county resources, and just felt like I was needing to do something. Um so I connected with her and she got a group of us together who met the following morning at Northern Grounds. Um, what we thought was going to be a one-hour meeting of just kind of getting a plan together, turned into a five-hour meeting, which turned into a 12-hour day. And now we've had five 12-hour days of um just responding to the community and figuring out what people's needs are, um, and yeah, figuring out how we can show up and get resources together, um, whether it's connecting with other nonprofits or connecting directly with individuals' needs and things like that. Um, so the other part of this that um was part of the initiative is that I think in these times there's a lot of goodwill towards firefighters and other people. People want to donate, they want to help, they want to do something. Um, and as Bria said, firefighters can be well taken care of for. So just trying to channel a lot of that goodwill and put it where it's actually needed and not just creating abundance or um doing different things like that.

Lacey Squier 16:14

So And it occurs to

How / when did the fires start?

Lacey Squier 16:16

me we should zoom out a little bit, like go backwards in time. So as I understand it, and I I want to make clear, like I'm not a representative of the U.S. Forest Service, but as I understand it, there was this series of storms on Monday, July 6th that led to a thousand lightning strikes um in the wilderness that started, you know, little fires maybe, but then come Sunday, July 12th, Saturday, July 11th. They were popping up in really, you know, all of a sudden these kind of latent embers from lightning strikes started popping off. And so you're saying, you know, we were all we were together on Sunday, July 12th, and we were getting the watch duty notifications, new fire growth, acreage expansion, acreage expansion, new fire growth. It was very hot, it was very dry. So Monday, July 13th, situation is getting worse. And you're saying Tuesday, July 14th is when a group of people got together and said, we need to do something about this.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

Yeah, absolutely. And even that Monday, I was sitting out by the lake and just had 20 to 30 mile per mile per hour winds just blowing up my face, and it was so hot, and it was hard to just like enjoy yourself for a day at the lake when you're just like, wow, this wind is so strong and it's so hot out, and you're just knowing that these fires were small a week ago, and now they're definitely not with the power of the weather of that day. Um, so then yeah, it was Tuesday, it was kind of the reveal of oh wow, these fires grew so much yesterday and so much overnight. And hence the aggressively looking at maps, uh looking for updates from the Forest Service and just yeah, feeling compelled to action, I guess.

Lacey Squier 17:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

And I'm someone who doesn't like I can't, like if there's something big going on or a crisis or a situation, I have a hard time sitting still. Like I feel like I need to do something, I need to like make myself useful, otherwise I just kind of fall into a hole. So I think that was the antidote to despair. Exactly. So I that was my way of reaching out to Emily and being like, please put me in. I'll I'll make I'll make spreadsheets, I'll do whatever you want. Um, I just want to be as helpful as possible

Circling back to the origins of the community wildfire response

SPEAKER_01 18:25

in these times.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

So how did you get looped in, Bria? I assumed Emily was going to be up to something, and I texted her at like 9 a.m. on the 14th, and she's like, Wow, we're meeting at 10. And I had dropped my daughter off at day at Happy Days and just showed up and we hit the ground running. And so I yeah, it just it happened very quickly, very organically. And I I also yeah, just recognizing there's well, one thing that this is unprecedented in how quickly we our community and so many of our community members were suddenly in evacuation zones, yes, evacuate evacuation warning, so ready, set, go. And our uh my family on the end of Fernburg, we I think went from set to go in less than 24 hours. It was very quick. Wow. Um, my husband was out driving tow boats, evacuating uh stranded paddlers in the boundary waters, but um and so recognizing how quick this was happening in the community and feeling like just knowing this community well enough that knowing intuitively, I guess as a group that there is gonna be a gap in needs, and that we had the skills as a team of of friends with different skill sets to like come together quickly and then support the community. And I we've had a lot of people just thank us for being a conduit of a um as a as an outlet, as a space to filter that need to do something and to help the community. And it's like it's natural. And uh we have this form we created where people can, it's an online Google form and they fill out a need or an offer or both. And honestly, out of the 200 some submissions we've got, most are offers. Like it's a testament. People want to do something in this moment, people don't want to sit idle. It it's and they have skills and they they want to be helpful and they want, you know, want to have need and purpose. Our goal as a team is to help kind of, yeah, again, be that conduit and help direct that energy and hopefully something that is sustainable, keeps Ely strong, is based on evidence-based uh, I guess, information on where that can most be effective, and also help educate the public from our best understanding and from some feedback we've gotten from firefighters is that the firefighters here are again are well trained. It's their job, they're paid, they're well taken care of. If they need something from the community, they know who to ask and how to ask for it. And um people uh rightfully so and understandably want to support the firefighters, they want to show gratitude. So we're also trying to offer a space for them to show gratitude, um, but also educate them that they they can't accept donations, they don't need free housing. Um, and there are other opportunities to keep uh Ely strong and support the community while still showing gratitude to the firefighters.

Lacey Squier 21:26

Yeah. And something I observe about the Ely

Being smoke ready -- Air quality index, N95 masks, air purifiers, and knowledge is power

Lacey Squier 21:29

community response effort and what y'all were brewing up at Northern Grounds on that Tuesday, was how do you where what are the gaps? And one of the gaps is supporting individual people in our community. And that's not to say we don't have organizations who are doing that. We do, but this is sort of an effort that is especially focused on um what I would now say, having heard the US Forest Service air resource specialists talk about it, is being smoke ready. And so Bria, you're A public health prof you're a medical professional with a public health background. Um, and as I'm bearing witness to the work that you all have been doing and and the needs in the community, it occurs to me, you know, really clean air and quality air should is a human right, but it's impossible to access right now. There are air quality indices, index numbers that are off the charts. Yes. And we've learned through our fire management professionals that we should expect fire season, you know, there's more ahead of us than there is behind us. It was a quote from last night. So if we can't guarantee clean air for our neighbors, at least we can guarantee a free N95 mask and the tools to procure an air filtration system. Pure fire, yeah. So say more about how did that become a focus of the group? Why is it a focus of the group? And how are you making it happen?

SPEAKER_00 23:00

I think one thing is this happened so quickly. And yes, we've had wildfires in the area, yes, we've had smoky days, but this is very new in terms of how severe the air quality is and how prolonged it's been or may possibly be. And so not only is it identifying the need, it's educating the public or helping educate the public that this is a need and a health concern they need to be aware of, and directing them into the most evidence-based ways to manage that. So there's different sensitivities to smoke. And some people it's just a bothersome thing when they will carry on with their life. They're healthy, they're fine. And there's other people who have like COPD, asthma, lung disease, children, pregnant people, our elderly patients who have severe risk to prolonged exposure to smoke. And it can lead to heart disease, it can lead to stroke, heart attacks, arrhythmias, hypertension, all that can cause prolonged health effects. And so we saw a gap in our public health resources that were immediately available. And we took that opportunity to try to educate the public about this is an important thing you need to be concerned about and what that means. And so there's this thing called air quality index, and it's a rating system of the air quality. And the recommendations are that if you have sensitivities and the air quality is between 100 and 150, you should wear an N95 outside when you're outside exposed to smoke. If it's above 150, basically everyone should wear an N95. And airnow.gov is a really good resource to follow that AQI number. There's lots of other resources out there, but that's one we're recommending. Yep. And then in addition, air purifiers in the home are really helpful. Um, there's a myriad of different purifiers out there, and we saw this mass frenzy where apparently even all of Duluth was wiped out of their air purifiers because people were just suddenly buying them up. Right. And Duluth was heavily impacted. Yeah, and Duluth had terrible ache. I mean, we're talking about numbers in the 900s and Ely and Duluth, and some of the worst in the country, maybe in a long, long time. And so um we had we met, and like we had an elderly lady the other day, 88, who walked, just kind of sauntered in, didn't know what we were about, and she expressed having difficulty breathing from the smoke, and we got her an N95 and sent her home, like had a volunteer bring a purifier to home, and she nearly started crying because she just couldn't like just to have relief from the smoke. And um, so it's yeah, not only educating people, but procuring the resources and then distributing them. Our goal, I think, it's to anybody who is asking for it, but ideally, we do focus on the most vulnerable uh as best as if supplies are kind of in limbo, and also in addition, really encouraging if people are willing to donate and provide the supplies, they purchase it from our local hardware stores. Yep Ace Hardware, true value. You can order it online, select their online store, buy local, and they're getting these supplies for our community.

Lacey Squier 26:14

Yeah, yeah. I was talking to the air resource specialist. Um, two of them were at their program last night and they were available for QA after. And I think it's just worth repeating um over and over again that this PM 2.5 factor, the particulate matter coming from the wildfire smoke is of a it's of a particular size, such that our lungs can't process it the same way as other things. So I've heard you say it many times. It's very important for people to know that like a bandana, a surgical mask, these other um face coverings that are not N95s do not filter the particulates coming from wildfire smoke. And there is just, yeah, very serious potential consequences that could come from um a lot of exposure, cumulative exposure, and and it just it needs to be understood that wildfire smoke, although we can't see it, it does have particulate matter that is distinct from you know, a lot of people have been saying, Oh gosh, like when the air quality got so bad and we felt like we were shut inside, or you know, we the recommendation was to be inside, we had these flashbacks to 2020 and the COVID closure era. And it's like, yes, some of the feeling of stuckness can resonate, but no, uh the the the transmission of COVID and the wildfire smoke is not all the same. Right.

SPEAKER_00 27:47

Yeah, but yeah, it's COVID is our air droplets versus uh wildfire smoke is full of toxins from wood and fire or wooden um plastics even in the soil, and it's just a thicker, chunkier toxin that gets embedded in the lungs and causes a lot of inflammation and over it. Doesn't actually have to be long-term exposure. You can have, you know, it is it depends again on the spectrum of your sensitivities, but we do see patients in the emergency department who have acute respiratory failure or exacerbations from a a few hours of exposure, it's a real serious risk, and so it it can be a significant triggering factor for people with respiratory issues.

Lacey Squier 28:33

And it sounded like one of the air resource specialists last night was saying they're observing a relationship even among healthy adults 18 to 55 of increased stroke as a result of exposure. Sure. So I I want to be, I'm I think it's worth lingering on the negative impacts so that people understand. I myself am, you know, I'm on record as saying like if I understand why something needs to be done, I'm better at following the rule. But then also want to have the more hopeful conversation around, and if you wear the mask, it's like uh effective. If you have the box fan with the filter attached, that's effective. That is an effective way to address these concerns.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

And I I don't I can't speak fully from a like a complete evidence-based, like what's the time exposure, but we do know that N95s need to be need to fit well and kind of seal around the top of the nose, around the face. Like in uh in the medical world, we're often tested, I think every once a year at least, for to make sure we get these fit tests to make sure the N95s fit properly. It's a hard thing to ask the public to do. So basically get it to fit as best as possible.

SPEAKER_02 29:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

And then staying out, staying inside with the windows closed, and having, you know, you can do the box filter, a basic box with box fan plus a MERV 13 filter and one small room. It there are studies out there, I don't know the exact numbers, but they have studied them and they are effective at making it better than nothing. Yeah. And um, you can buy air purifiers that are much more expensive at the hardware stores. I people are buying $150 air purifiers like the plug-in kind for community members at Ace Hardware and True Value. So it's a spectrum. Anything's better than nothing, but do look into what is the what is actually recommended, and it's helpful for people. Yeah, we are happy to direct people to those resources on what's effective.

Preparing for the future, contributing to clarity

Lacey Squier 30:31

And some of what's going on here is trying to communicate this as a lifestyle change for people who live in these communities. And and Megan, I wonder if you'd talk a little bit about, you know, you the group gets together on on July 14th. There's an idea of just collecting needs, collecting offers, and facilitating connections and resolving issues, resolving meeting needs. Um and that's a massive undertaking. That's a huge comms and communications undertaking. What do you think? Like, how did you execute that?

SPEAKER_01 31:10

Yeah, and I think like the problem that we're really solving too is just there's so much information just being flooded out everywhere, whether it's from the Forest Service, from the news, from the community itself. Um, if you're familiar with the Ely area, we have a Facebook group that's ever growing every day. Uh, what's up Ely? But that's where we saw a lot of the initial offers being put out. So people offering lodging, um, offering to donate Gatorades, um, things like that. And so it's just there's a ton out there all at once. And I think we saw a need to kind of funnel that into one place and including information too, um, just like being able to educate the public on these uh public health matters or on um either uh firewise information, so like how to prepare your house um to be more fire resilient. Um, so I think we decided to also just make ourselves like a hub for information um and the most up-to-date information and also dispel rumors and dispel other things that were going on. Um just because yeah, it's hard to just follow when there's just yeah, so much floating around.

Lacey Squier 32:19

So well, more information is not always better, right? And sometimes you need to like triage the need and triage the information.

SPEAKER_01 32:29

Totally, yeah, and just like figuring out what the priority is. So, just for example, the last two, three days, it's maybe been a little less smoky and Ely. So there has been people coming in and being like, okay, can I actually go to my house that might be in a ready or a set zone or not in any zone, but can I make it uh so I make sure my gutters are cleared out, make sure there's no wood piles next to my house. Um, but then we expect smoke to probably come back later this week. So it's like, okay, now we're gonna really push masks. Now we're really gonna make sure that people have either an air purifier in their home or the box fan method, um, just kind of responding to whatever the situation situation is in that moment, and then make sure that's the information people can seek out and get right away as well.

Lacey Squier 33:13

And early on, there was just there's such a, you know, we know for example that between September 2024 and October 2025, there were over 326,000 people who visited Ely who are beyond above and beyond who live here either locally or regionally. So there, and that's one year, right? And imagine a lifetime's worth of people paying attention to the edge of the wilderness. There was such an outpouring of what can I do? What can I do from afar? So one of the first things y'all did from an early activity, I should say, was you put together a list of like, consider donating here, consider supporting these organizations. You know, if you want to support the firefighters but you aren't sure how, consider donating to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. So, what did that effort look like? I mean, that was that was immediate and useful.

SPEAKER_01 34:08

Yeah, so I think we put um asks out for those needs, you know, we got a lot of uh people interested in filling out our form, but then also we're hearing from businesses about what they do need, from individuals what they do need, and then also hearing from agencies and others what they don't need. And so trying to just make that as clear as day of like these people want you and want your help right now. These people are totally good. Um, so just trying to make that clear to folks of, yeah, if you want to support firefighters and the um other people who are working on these fires, here's three resources that are good and wanted, and you can put all of your money and energy there or your physical donations. And then there's also the places where it's like, yeah, don't bring these, they're they're overwhelmed, they don't need more, they're getting calls to their offices daily. And so we're just trying to be like, hey, let's let's bring that energy in a little bit. And I think the thing that we're also gonna see in the long run is that our local businesses are gonna be the most impacted, um, like even community needs, like those are pretty quick. We can resolve them quickly. We can make sure someone has an evacuation buddy if they need a ride out of town, if they need their cats boarded, things like that. So we can respond really quickly to the local need. But in the long run, we're gonna definitely see need to see um some kind of support towards our businesses. You know, a lot of guides who rely on this income in the summer um just aren't gonna have it. So, how can we support them? So I think right now our job with the Substack specifically is just trying to funnel all that information, make it super digestible too. So if someone searches something, they can find it right away instead of kind of having to weed through a lot of different Facebook posts and other things and um like news stories, but just trying to keep all of our resources in one home.

Lacey Squier 35:55

Yeah. How did you decide that um

How did you choose which communications channels to employ?

Lacey Squier 35:58

what tools are you implementing? You know, Substack as an example of a tool. And, you know, how did you choose which communication channels to employ?

SPEAKER_01 36:06

Yeah, so we chose Substack kind of as our home base because um creating a website would have taken too much time. And because this is an ever-evolving situation, Substack uh is more update-oriented. It's kind of like a blog if you're not familiar with it. And you can also sub subscribe with your email. So if people want immediate updates on what we're doing or what's happening around us, um they can put their email in and they'll get an email right away about what we need, or something has evolved with the fire and we're changing what we're doing, or like here's a bunch of businesses you can support right now, um, or nonprofits or local agencies. Um, we've seen a lot of different various types of needs. Um so Substract was a choice just because it kind of fitted it fit the urgent format that we're in right now and has room to evolve with us versus a website that yeah, just it's a little bit harder to update and keep the most relevant information at the top of it. And then we also have a Facebook um because that's just where a lot of the Ely community shares a lot of information. Um, so it's a little bit easier for us to specifically share our post, but also share to the WhatsApp Ely Facebook page where a lot of these conversations were happening. Um and then we also recently started an Instagram for those who are not on Facebook and just wanted another place, but it's a little bit more of a low-key thing, but easier to share information quickly because people can just add to their story, get information out. So we'll be developing that out a little bit more. Um, but also like there's people in our community who don't have any technology. Um they might not even have an email or a cell phone, depending on who they are. So we've also implemented just straight up knocking on doors and had to do that in a few situations where we're just like, hey, dude, what do you need? Are you good right now? Um so I think there is a level of communication that needs to be happening in person, which is why we decided to have like a hub at the uh Ely's Historic State Theater, just so people could walk in and ask questions and get physical pieces of paper or have conversations with an actual person. Um, and honestly, there's been a lot of people who've walked in and just discovered what we were doing. We figured out they had a need, like the woman who needed the air purifier. Um, so it's good to just be as in an in as many places as possible. Wow. And you all mobilize this.

Lacey Squier 38:21

I mean, this was fully rocking and rolling by Thursday. Yeah. Right? We're tired. Right. So today is Monday, July 20th. You spent, you know, it seems like every waking moment from Tuesday until this very moment on this topic doing this work. What like

We've rallied other people to come join us, becoming a network to help connect dots

Lacey Squier 38:44

how did you become so community service oriented?

SPEAKER_00 38:48

Uh it would just happen. I don't know. The other the boy the other thing though too is, and Megan's done more of this, is we've rallied other people to come and join us. So we've set up a sign up genius for people to, it's a way to sign up to volunteer. So we have volunteers right now at the state theater available to provide education to the community. So we've had to educate volunteers on how to educate the community on how to do respiratory management in a fire or how to uh how basically we're just trying to direct people to the experts. I think none of us are really experts in this, but we know people who are. Yeah. So we're trying to become this network and connecting the dots, connecting this person who has this need with this person, another person who has that resource or the answer. And like really odd things like connecting uh one of our fire departments, visiting fire departments with an auto mechanic on a Sunday and getting them the phone number. Um, we the door knocking thing, I think, has been incredible. We had a volunteer go to an assisted living place, identified with the team there, three people who needed air purifiers, and we just got them the air purifiers that day. And so it's become not just, yeah, it's definitely not just our team, it's this whole crew now behind us that are also kind of jumping in and becoming like someone right now is working on connecting with the food shelf and seeing what their needs are, and so activating experts in their field in the community um has been really cool to see. It's happening very quickly, very organically and yeah, really powerfully.

Lacey Squier 40:24

Because we have, yes, we have an organization that serves youth, we have an organization that serves elders, we have a food shelf, but none of these organizations have any sort of like branch of what they're up to that is wildfire management specific. And so what you all have been doing is this like epic amount of facilitation with this the lens of the fire, because this is ultimately rooted in kind of emergency preparedness, emergency response. And it's

A strong community response reminds us we have agency and reminds us we are resilient

Lacey Squier 40:54

it's it's really powerful. I was sitting at the Ely State Theater kind of hub station that's set up there, interacting. It's really fun to see the people coming through to say thank you. Um, powerful to see the people coming through asking for help and seeing their needs being met. And I was talking to a friend and they were saying, Yeah, if I'm gonna live in a place where there is sort of this, there will always be, you know, we live next to a wilderness, there will always be threat of wildfire and and that how it could encroach upon our day-to-day lives. If I'm going to live here, which I do want to do and intend to do, how how great that it's a place where there is a community response. There is a concerted effort to be mindful of public health, to share clear digestible messaging to everyone in every possible channel. Like it's it's it's really it does a lot to give a sense of agency and empowerment and resilience to something that feels kind of difficult and scary.

SPEAKER_00 42:01

And I think too, was it Tom is it Tom Hall yesterday who mentioned that this is only this is very likely the beginning for this summer, and then I very expected this will happen again in terms of air quality at least in the future. Yep. I don't know about impending you know evacuations, anything like that, but smoke is in our future, and

We want to help the community be better prepared

SPEAKER_00 42:24

I we hope that that this is an opportunity that the communicate community will be better prepared. Right now we're in like the the there's blue sky and people are walking around the community without masks. We don't need them right now. The AQI is I think under 100. Yep. But we're hoping because last week there was a bit of a frenzy, and we're hoping now the community can be better prepared, better educated, know where the resources are that they can get, and then we don't know what our future holds as Ely Community Response as a group. Um, maybe this is it, maybe it becomes something else. But if anything, at least we've done something to help the community prepare for the next time. And maybe next time is tomorrow. We don't know. We have

Looking ahead a few days at a time

SPEAKER_00 43:05

no idea. True.

SPEAKER_01 43:06

And I think that's something that we've talked about earlier on with someone who's giving us guidance, is like you can only think 72 hours ahead. Like things change so fast, they evolve, you don't know if things are gonna grow or shrink or whatever. Um, so we've only ever really thought as much as we can, like 72 hours ahead. Um, and with these things, like say a year ago, we were like, okay, let's get a wildfire response crew together. Like you can only plan for so much, but especially in this fire situation, which is really unprecedented for this area, um, you kind of have to be reactive and proactive at the same time, but mostly reactive because even our own needs, like hour to hour, are shifting and changing. Um, so you kind of have to be nimble and flexible and just uh yeah, be ready to serve the community at any one time. And I think

Ely is a strong community, people are well connected and willing to take care of each other

SPEAKER_01 43:55

that's also the beauty of our particular group is like Ely is such a strong community. To begin with. Like people are well connected, they know each other. Um, they're ready to take care of each other as needed. Um, and that's something that someone said at the event last night is like, oh, we haven't seen a response, a community response like this that's maybe a little more mutual aid focused or whatever.

Lacey Squier 44:16

Um, so that's so US Forest Service professionals were like, we have never seen a as concerted or impactful of an effort as this.

SPEAKER_01 44:25

Yeah. So it is, I think, unique to living in Ely, you know, that is like we are just ready to do that because we care about our neighbors so much. We show up for our neighbors, even if it's just the perfect day and the perfect situation. Like people are still showing up for each other, um, hanging out with each other, like being connected, you know your neighbors. Um, and so I think that's what's unique to us doing this this in this place and this time is that Ely is just such a strong community. And I hope that in the future we can kind of take what we've learned and what the do's and do-nots and kind of put together something so that other communities can be use it as a tool or a resource in the future.

This is a replicable model

Lacey Squier 45:02

So yeah, it's you're creating a model that is replicable at the heart of what you've offered is a Google spreadsheet where someone can check, I have a need, and then answer questions about their need, or they can check, I have an offer and answer questions about their offer. And what you're doing is pairing needs and offers, right? And you're not a 501c3, you aren't accepting donations directly. Certainly, anything could happen in the future. Maybe this model is going to be so useful as to there would be a desire to form something like that, but but it's the heart of it is so simple and therefore replicable and specific.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

It's the that's the key, is I think like Megan spoke to that too, is this yeah, felt like um curbing this we we don't want any donations to go to waste, we don't want resources to go to waste, we want them to be sustainable. And I know Veterans on the Lake did an incredible job um collecting a huge amount of donations and food and water and supplies for particular fire departments that were able to receive those. Um, but in general, like U.S. Forest Service firefighters cannot accept those donations. Right. It's we're still learning who can and can't and why, and there's federal mandates on that. But um yeah, just again trying to make sure this is all sustainable and goes to effective support for the fire.

Lacey Squier 46:28

Well, and yeah, and firefighters. Veterans on a lake is a is an interesting example though, because they are housing some firefighters, right? So, like if by all means, if if you're a person who has access to a wildland firefighter and that person is like ready and able to receive some cookies or food, you know, like if you have direct access, like you do you, but what you all are funneling is people who don't have direct access, and you're like, here's an idea, here's a place for you to funnel your energy.

SPEAKER_00 46:57

And just to be clear, from our understanding, and if there's a listener out there who uh is better able to correct if we're wrong, our understanding is that once a fire department is deployed on a on a fire, like a they are then provided with housing that they pay for. There's no free housing, they can't ought they can't accept free housing, and so business yeah, anyone who wherever they're staying, they're paying for it. Yep. Yeah, a lot of people want to give up free housing offers and we're gonna help educate the public on on that. But it's it's still uh we're learning more and more about it too, and the different entities, and there are some private entities, I think, in the community, um, but still wouldn't receive free donations or free housing.

SPEAKER_01 47:41

But yeah, so and just to add to that too, it also applies to food because with our well intentions, we wanted to host a dinner for firefighters, but because they're on a specific meal plan, even they need a certain amount of protein, you know, they're busting their butts all day out at the fire. Um, they have specific needs, they do have caterers, and when the caters aren't here, they have a per diem that they can go spend at local restaurants. So some of the local restaurants have opted to stay open later so that they can um allow firefighters to come in and eat meals there. Um, so that's been great for our restaurants who maybe don't have as many people coming in, but just uh have like another way that they can kind of support the community and then also still be open and available for people. So that's been a really cool response as well. And some other businesses even opening up early or like creating bagged lunches um with the people who can use their per diem to go buy that. So um that response has also been significant and really awesome to see from our business community.

Lacey Squier 48:39

Yeah. And speaking

Open for business? Yes, and it's complicated.

Lacey Squier 48:40

of the business community, like you said, like so there is there's a complex, there's a complex message to put out there, and it is that the Blueberry Art Festival is canceled, and we totally understand why it is, you know, many of our lodging institutions are full to the brim with the some of the 700 wildland firefighters that are in the area right now. Um, also given that we are um neighbors with folks who are in the Ready Set Go continuum, it didn't make good sense to bring in a festival and vendors with, you know, in previous years, 40,000 new folks to town. But it's important to kind of give the comma that like that doesn't mean Iwe is closed. This wasn't the right weekend for a major festival that didn't, that wasn't the right move for our community to host a festival, but we are still open for business.

SPEAKER_00 49:41

Yeah.

Lacey Squier 49:41

And that that's a complicated thing to try to communicate to people. And yes, maybe we have days where our air quality index is high and you need to wear a mask when you're outside, but you can wear a mask as you walk from establishment to establishment. You can wear a mask when you check out the Dorothy Moulter Museum property and then take it off when you get inside at the Wolf Center or the Bear Center. Like there's still activities that can be undertaken here if people want. And if now's not the right time for them to come, then by all means, plan a trip for this winter. Plan a trip for the future because our our local establishments really do, you know, have a bulk of their income this time of year, and then it spreads out throughout the year, and that's how they sustain themselves. So there's there's an ongoing conversation about how people can support local businesses from here and from afar.

SPEAKER_01 50:37

Yeah, and if you are wanting to visit either now or in November, the activities would probably be similar. There's so much to do inside. We have like a bunch of amazing museums. Um there we have this weekend, there's the Northern Lakes Arts Association production of um Jesus Christ Superstar. Uh, you can go to Ely's Historic State Theater where they always got two movies going on, other concerts and things. So there's Have you guys seen Odyssey yet? You've been hanging out at the theater all the time. I can hear it through the walls, but I haven't seen it.

SPEAKER_00 51:07

And when not like yesterday we went swimming on Johnson Lake, and it was so fun and it was so beautiful out. And my toddler was just she had the best time, and the air quality was fine to be outside without masks, right? So we it's yes, it's finding a balance and encouraging people to still visit. We're probably not in prepared for en masse to do it. But in my so my husband has a outfit, uh not an outfit, a resort with cabins that he rents on Moose Lake, and we were evacuated, so we cannot access and no one can go to the resort now. But we had some incredible guests who foregoed their um cancellation deposit just to keep us, you know, as a as a means of support. And we're hearing more and more stories of that. We're not saying everyone has to do what they have to do, you know, a financial situation, but it's been just really nice when people are able to do that kind of thing as a as a sign of support and understanding, or people who've committed to reserving our cabins at an at a later date or changing their reservation to a later later date. And uh

How can people best support Ely?

SPEAKER_00 52:13

people just really want to know how to best support Ely. And we did create a resource on our Substack. People can find it on our Facebook page as well, on um uh uh uh hopefully a comprehensive list of all the local businesses that at least have online shops where people can purchase items online or gift cards online. Um and I know every business is unique and not every business has an online presence, but it's at least something. And I I know people have that's been well received and hope and people have been purchasing from these companies online. At the same time, I don't know if this is a complete sustainable answer. And I do think this is beyond our small grassroots volunteer organization. I do think there are some like big political conversations and policy changes that have to happen. It was nice to see Amy Klobishar and Grant Halscheld and Tina Smith up here. I think Stauber was in town and getting that recognition from politicians who at least are nodding to our situation and and Roger Scraba was in the city. Oh yeah, Roger Scraba, yep. And but this is we you can't ask a community to to bear the brunt of keeping ourselves strong and alive in the midst of a massive economic and and natural disaster. This has to come from higher level care and under deep understanding of the complexities of the businesses that are in Ealy. And I don't know what that looks like. I am so far beyond my expertise, but yeah, we we hope our politicians hear this and and uh yeah, take some major action steps to support our communities. This is not the only time I think this will happen to our community, and we we want to know that our elected officials are ready and prepared to support us so we're not feeling frenzied and scared and scrambled and unaware of and and just the I think the big thing is yeah, what's gonna come? What is gonna come of this? Yeah. And I I'm in a personally a fortunate, I'm we feel fine and safe, but I know a lot of community members are really scared right now and losing significant income and revenue. Right. One missed paycheck is it's huge for a lot of I don't do any of you know what the like per capita income is? I one time I heard it was like 23,000 was the average income for an elite, like but I don't I don't know that number good to know, but I should look it up so I have a more acute answer.

Lacey Squier 54:44

I think it's more like 35,000. Still right, right. Um But Brie, I think you make a really good point, and it ties together a couple of threads, which is you know, at the beginning of the conversation, you you said something along the lines of like, I th I have something to contribute, right? And for you, that's a lot of like that's a lot of it's sort of I think of it as like the medical know-how and and that part of it, but you have lots to contribute and you were available. You said, I know Emily Rose is always up to something, I have something to contribute, I'm gonna go to that meeting at 10 a.m. And Megan, you I have something to contribute, right? Like I have a communications background. I can help take the maybe the chaos of the ideas and put them into something cogent. Um, when I was able to kind of join the conversation, it's like I have something to contribute. I have a little bit of volunteer like recruitment know-how. Um and so that's kind of everyone has something to contribute that's unique to them. And for our politicians, like that is infrastructure, that is funding, that is resilient systems, that's long-term thinking. And and so maybe listeners have something to contribute that's unique to them. They can email elecommunity response at gmail.com and and pre-meditate on what it is that you think you have to offer and then share what that is, right? It's cool to show up and say, I want to be a part of the team, but it's even better to show up and say, I want to be a part of the team, and I'm really good at running errands. Yes. I have a car, I have gas money, and I have the will to bring an air purifier from point A to point B. Or whatever it is, like be clear about what you have to contribute, and that will make it easier to plug a person in.

SPEAKER_00 56:36

Absolutely.

Lacey Squier 56:38

I think our conversation must come to an end. I wonder if you have any final thoughts you want to share, any message you want to uh dispatch out to the listeners.

SPEAKER_01 56:48

Just that Ely's still open, um, but we will need your support going forward. Um, so I know it's we have a lot of attention on us right now, um, especially we've had a lot of news interviews this week, which has been really amazing. Yeah. Um, but like also we're gonna need your support in two months, three months, a year from now. So like don't forget about us. Um we'll still be here and we will still need you to support us in some capacity.

SPEAKER_00 57:13

Yeah, I just Ely is an incredible community. We have a broad spectrum of political ideologies and perspectives and opinions, but it has been pretty awesome to see all that put it to the side as best as possible. And we've really come together to support each other. And we Ely Ely first, community first. Um, I'm a Shirky. I think a lot of your audience members know the Shirky family, but it's uh yeah, tried to go to Zavirls last night. I think some people know what that would mean, but um they were close, unfortunately. But yeah, I I'm just so proud of this community. I'm really proud to sit claim this is my home and the place I get to raise my child, and I just want to see us thrive in the midst of a really scary time. Um people, Ely should be proud. And also thank you all for your patience as we're learning too, as an Ely community response team. Uh, you know, thank you for your feedback. We're open to it. We've had some really incredible wildland firefighters like gently coach us um in certain directions. So um and the community's been really receptive to our learnings too. So yeah, we love you, Ely. And uh we'll get through it.

Lacey Squier 58:35

I I'm finding myself just a little bit emotional. I feel so grateful to the two of you and the the crew of people you've been working with, the massive network of people you represent, and the the spirit of Ely that shines through you and what you're doing. I thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 58:53

Thank you. Thank you for having us. We're happy to get the word out, and yeah, Ely strong.

Lacey Squier 58:59

All right, listeners, that's all for this episode. We're gonna keep the conversation going. Um, there's more to learn, there's more to be said, and in reality, a lot of this conversation is kind of inherently infinite. Um, thank you so much again to our special guests, Bria and Megan. The Wilderness Edge podcast is produced by Brett Ross of Boreal Roots Media and it features music by Nick Allen. The podcast is brought to you by Boundary Waters Connect, which is the economic and community development project of Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness. And you can learn more by visiting BoundaryWatersConnect.org. But um, I'm also gonna make sure that the Ely community response uh substack and that Google form and other links related to air quality and all of what we've talked about today are in the show notes. So please check it all out and we'll keep the conversation going. Thank you. Thank you.