“It looked like a warzone”: The North Shore man who ran toward the wildfire to save his family

TWO HARBORS, Minn. (Northern News Now) - Northern News Now got a first look at the damage from the Stewart Trail fire, hearing from someone who found themselves in the middle of the fire on Friday.

Seth Christiansen was driving on Highway 3 Friday afternoon when he saw smoke coming from his parents’ property near Stewart River.

“When you see it on TV, it’s a different feeling from actually living it yourself,” said Christiansen.

He broke through the barrier and helped his parents and their animals as flames surrounded them.

He said he saw his family’s barns go up in flames, along with cars and boats.

“It was pretty eerie, having a helicopter go over there, and it’s just black stumps everywhere still smoldering; it looked like a warzone,” said Christiansen.

His parents decided to stay despite being in the evacuation zone.

“They were telling them they got to leave, and my mom was like ‘no, we’re not leaving’ and so I stuck around,” he said.

Authorities say there have been no injuries in the fire, but a total of 34 structures were lost to the flames, 8 of those being homes and cabins.

RELATED: UPDATE: ‘Power line’ listed as cause of Stewart Trail Fire as containment grows overnight

“There’s no rhyme or reason how it behaves the way it does,” said Lake County Deputy Sheriff Tim Luoma. “Why stuff gets burned, why stuff doesn’t.”

Now, residents are picking up the pieces.

Monday afternoon, those in the evacuation zone were able to be escorted back to their property. Luoma said they went to 42 homes.

RELATED: Residents allowed access to properties in Stewart Trail Fire evacuation zones

Many of them were surrounded by charred ground, burnt trees and the remains of structures.

“We gave them the time to see what they had and then really sit back and take it in at their own pace,” said Luoma.

Everyone is now trying to find the best way to move forward.

“The biggest thing is to start getting them back into homes and give them the opportunity to start getting back to what the new normal is,” said Luoma.

Christiansen said, “You just got to move on and smile and make the best of it.”

Christensen said he is extremely grateful to those fighting the fire.

That includes nearly a dozen local fire departments, along with multiple aircraft and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

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