Gunflint Fire Department experiences busy winter, responds to stuck vehicle on snowmobile trail

It has been a busy couple of weeks and an overall busy winter for the volunteer Gunflint Fire Department.

“This seems to have been the busiest winter we’ve had for a while in terms of rescues, ambulance runs, and fires,” said Jim Morrison, the Gunflint Fire Department Fire Chief.

Morrison said winter is usually a “fairly quiet time,” however in recent weeks, first responders and volunteers within the department have responded to a minor snowmobile accident, a car fire on Sag Lake Trail that threatened a nearby home, an injured individual needing medical transport, and two individuals needing rescue after driving their Subaru down a snowmobile trail.

“Right now, there are a lot of people up here. Snowmobiling is good. Cross-country skiing is good. So you just have a lot more people, and then you seem to have more incidents,” Morrison said. “That’s what I attribute it to anyway.”

The rescue of the two individuals from Woodbury, Minn., who drove approximately a mile down a snowmobile trail in a Subaru occurred on Saturday, Feb. 22. The Cook County Sheriff’s Office received the call from one member of the party at 1:53 p.m, stating they were stuck on the Blueberry Rd, near Greenwood Lake Rd, and were unable to get out.

The Blueberry Rd, located approximately 16 miles up the Gunflint Trail, is not plowed in the winter and is used for snowmobile traffic instead.

According to the sheriff’s office report, the individuals said they were out of gas, and one had cold feet and potentially frostbite as they were wearing Crocs.

Upon receiving the call, Morrison said the available volunteers and first responders began loading snowmobiles, filling gas cans, and grabbing necessary equipment and gear.

Since the individuals reported that one of them had frostbite, the Gunflint Fire Department and search and rescue responders were paged. Morrison said approximately eight people responded to the call, two of which were in the responding ambulance. The crews then drove three snowmobiles about a mile down the Blueberry Rd to the stuck individuals.

“Both parties were actually fine,” Morrison said. The individual who was wearing Crocs did not have frostbite. The temperature on Feb. 22 was in the mid-30s, according to the National Weather Service.

Morrison said the first responders provided a pair of boots and extra clothing. “She had plenty of clothing. But we did it because she was essentially barefoot by that time. I guess she was wearing essentially cotton socks and Crocs. So they’d gotten completely soaked.”

The first responders attempted to get the vehicle unstuck but were unsuccessful. The responding Cook County Sherriff’s Office deputy then called North Coast Towing. Morrison said they put the two individuals on the snowmobiles and brought them back to the intersection of Greenwood Lake Rd to wait for the tow truck.

Morrison said the individuals told him they were in Grand Marais for the day and driving roads looking for moose. “And that was how they ended up going down the Blueberry Rd.”

In all, despite the costly towing bill, Morrison said it was “a good outcome,” and everyone was okay.

According to the sheriff’s report, the driver told the responding deputy, Mark Buckman, that she had been down the road in the past and thought it was open year-round. In the report, he said he did not cite the driver but that her tow bill should deter future driving conduct.

While the driver will cover the bill for towing, any other associated costs for search and rescue or the fire department are not covered.

Although the fuel expenditures were minimal for the trip, Morrison said. Maintaining the snowmobiles and responding vehicles used in each responding call is a cost. “I don’t know how you measure the cost of that.”

“The fire department is all volunteer. So we would bear any additional costs to volunteer,” he said. “There’s no reimbursement in terms of the fire department for these activities.”

“That’s part of our responsibility as a rescue emergency medical services and fire department,” Morrison said. “That is part of what we do.”

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with Gunflint Fire Department Fire Chief Jim Morrison about the Feb. 22 incident and the resources and personnel required to respond to such a call. Morrison also highlighted the busy winter the volunteer fire department is experiencing. The audio from the interview is below.

Kalli Hawkins March 5, 2025