The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is warning of a dangerous spring for wildfires.

The agency said the wildfire season is starting earlier. A lack of snow and warmer temperatures have already helped produce a number of fires across the state.

“We’re more or less four to six weeks ahead of schedule for what I would call the start of our spring fire season, and we’re already there,” said Travis Verdegan, the Minnesota DNR predictive services coordinator.

As of Friday, March 1, Verdegan said there have been 58 wildfires over the past two weeks across Minnesota.

While snow from the recent blizzard in the area has made for a minor improvement in the short term, dry conditions dating back to summer are signaling the increasing trend of wildfires will continue statewide.

“To have the level of activity that we’ve seen already, and to start that early is abnormal,” Verdegan said.

The National Interagency Fire Center is predicting above normal wildland fire risk for Minnesota for March, April and May, due to drier than normal conditions and above normal temperatures forecast. (National Interagency Coordination Center)

Caution needed

Patrick Waletzko, the emergency manager for Otter Tail County, said the current conditions mean people need to be extra careful when enjoying the warmer weather.

“Be very cautious when you’re looking at the materials, equipment that you’re using. Can they generate a spark? Certainly we encourage people not to be burning at this point in time,” Waletzko said.

Another way to help with prevention is to take a look at any recent burnings.

“Double-check any burn piles that were burnt over the winter. They may have been burnt with snow on, but those ashes can stay hot. We have documented cases where we have fires that have come from piles that were burnt months before,” Verdegan said.

Waletzko said Otter Tail County will be increasing its messaging regarding wildfire safety. He said the most important tip is to make sure people are signed up for emergency notifications so they can be safe when wildfires happen.

“Whether it’s through your county-specific emergency notification system, national weather service tools, local media — just being in the know is our biggest piece,” Waletzko said.

A wildfire happened in the area as recently as Thursday, Feb. 29, in Rothsay. The fire chief told WDAY News the grass fire in a ditch along Interstate 94 was knocked down quickly, and they have yet to determine what started it.

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Contract negotiations between St. Paul Public Schools and the teachers union will continue Monday after the two sides failed to reach an agreement during nearly 40 hours of bargaining over the weekend, district officials say.

The district said in a news release Sunday that the bargaining teams “continued to make meaningful progress” with the help of a state mediator as a strike deadline looms on March 11.

Members of the St. Paul Federation of Educators, which represents the district’s 3,700 teachers and nonlicensed staffers, voted last month to authorize a strike with 92% support.

It’s the fourth consecutive two-year bargaining cycle in which St. Paul teachers have threatened to strike. The union went on strike for four days in 2020 and almost went on strike in 2018 and 2022.

While the union and the school district say there has been some progress in closed-door mediation sessions over the last month, they’re still working through major disagreements on pay and insurance.

Early union proposals included a $7,500 pay bump for all teachers and community service personnel in the district, as well as a 7.5% raise in the second year. They’re also asking for a $5.43-an-hour raise for educational assistants followed by a 7.5% raise in the second year.

Meanwhile, the district was offering a 2% raise in the first year, and a 3% increase for teachers at the lowest pay level.

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Kirill Kaprizov simply wasn’t going to let the Wild lose. Not on this particular night. Not with the hopes and dreams of this season still hanging in the balance.

With the Wild in danger of falling 10 points out of the final playoff spot with 20 games remaining, Kaprizov netted a hat trick to lead the way in a 4-3 win over the lowly San Jose Sharks. He singlehandedly erased a deficit in the final frame on Sunday night at the Xcel Energy Center, then scored  the game winner for good measure.

The win helped the Wild (29-27-6, 64 points) stay within striking distance of the Los Angeles Kings (31-19-10, 72 points) and Nashville Predators (35-25-2, 72 points) for the the the final playoff spot, giving general manager Bill Guerin something to think about with the trade deadline slowly coming into focus.

After dominating play for much of the first period, the Wild had nothing to show for it. Much like in their loss to the St. Louis Blues about 24 hours earlier.

It started to go sideways for the Wild early in the second period as Sharks winger Mikael Granlund went top shelf on the power play to make it 1-0. It got worse from there for the Wild as winger Matt Boldy turned the puck over while on the power play and watched Sharks winger Nico Sturm score shorthanded on the other end to stretch the lead to 2-0.

That seemed to awaken the Wild.

On the very next shift, with the Wild still on the power play, Freddy Gaudreau quickly cut the deficit to 2-1. That energized the home crowd, less than 90 seconds later, star winger Kirill Kaprizov handled a stretch pass from fellow winger Mason Shaw and casually made it 2-2.

Though the Wild pushed hard to create some separation in the aftermath, they couldn’t find the back of the net. That came back to bit them in the third period as Sharks winger Anthony Duclair got loose on a partial breakaway and beat goaltender Filip Gustavsson glove side to make it 3-2.

Luckily for the Wild, they have Kaprizov, and he wasn’t going to let them lose. He carved out some open ice near the slot, then unleashed a perfectly placed slap shot on bended knee to level the score at 3-3. He scored again a few minutes later, finalizing his hat trick in the process.

Briefly

The lineup felt disjointed throughout the game as the Wild were without winger Marcus Johansson, who sat out due a lower-body injury, and winger Mats Zuccarello, who was a late scratch due to personal reasons. Though defenseman Dakota Mermis suited up in place of Zuccarello, he logged very limited ice tie.

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