Walz orders flags to be lowered after firefighter dies responding to BWCAW wildfire

ELY, Minn. — Gov. Tim Walz ordered Thursday for state buildings to lower flags to half-staff in honor of a firefighter who died after responding to the Bear Trap Fire. 

Leslie R. Washington, a wildland firefighter from Noorvik, Alaska, suffered a medical emergency Tuesday while responding to the wildfire. He died later at a nearby hospital. 

The Bear Trap Fire, located 20 miles north of Ely, has consumed nearly 30,000 acres in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). As of Wednesday, firefighting crews had the fla...