Map provided by Isle Royale National Park This map shows the areas burned at Isle Royale by the Horne Fire since August.

ISLE ROYALE — The Horne Fire at Isle Royale National Park was contained at about 335 acres before park rangers returned to the mainland at the end of October, the park said in its final wildfire update Tuesday.

The fire was still smoldering in a few places, mostly in the thick duff layer, the park said. Light smoke plumes could also be seen on both sides of the Greenstone ridge, which runs lengthwise across the island.

Containment lines were set up and some clearing was done before rangers left for the winter, said Liz Valencia, public information officer at Isle Royale.

“It’ll continue to kind of smolder along really slowly, then get covered up with snow, and then that’ll be it.” she said.

Valencia anticipates the fire will not result in much damage to wildlife habitat. However, rangers won’t know the full impact until returning to the island next spring, she said. Valencia said many of the damaged trees could be knocked over by storms this winter.

The Horne Fire started on Aug.10 and is believed to have been caused by a lightning strike on the Duncan Bay side of the Duncan – Tobin portage trail. It burned slowly until a wind event on Aug. 21 pushed the fire and embers across the northeast end of the island, threatening historic structures in Tobin Harbor and closing multiple trails and campgrounds.

Valencia said firefighters were able to prevent the fire from damaging most structures.

“We were able to put the fire out before it burned up everything,” she said. “The only structure lost through the fire event was one outhouse.”

Fire control efforts drew firefighters from Isle Royale, Buffalo River and Grand Tetons National Parks, Grand Portage and Fond du Lac Bands of Lake Superior Chippewa, Hiawatha National Forest, and the state of Virginia.

“It was a really critical fire season this summer,” Valencia said. “There were fires all over, so it really came down to who was available at the time.”

Size-wise, the 335-acre fire is about in the middle of historical fires on the island, Valencia said. Since 1976, there had been 17 fires totaling 96 acres until the Horne Fire. One in the 1940s had reached about 1,400 acres.