Gina Heyer of Crow Wing County Community Services moves cots from a trailer to set up inside the Crosslake Community Center as part of the American Red Cross Disaster Relief center established for the Flanders Fire on May 16, 2026, in Crosslake.
The Crosslake Community Center transitioned from a temporary evacuation point to an overnight shelter for those who left their homes behind due to the Flanders Fire on Saturday night.
The American Red Cross and Crow Wing County Community Services personnel served dinner along with snacks and water to about a dozen people. There are also charging stations available for people’s devices. At least seven pooches were also on the premises, and county officials said they were working to accommodate pets.
Around 8 p.m., Tammy and Tim Southmayd, Tammy’s sister Nancy Anderson and their neighbor Susan Hobbs finished their dinner of Rafferty’s Pizza inside the community center. The Southmayds own two properties in the evacuation zone, one of which is their primary residence they share with Anderson on County Road 109.
Tammy Southmayd pets her three dogs waiting inside her vehicle in the parking lot of the Crosslake Community Center after evacuating her home located in the vicinity of the Flanders Fire on May 16, 2026, in Crosslake. County and American Red Cross officials were preparing the center to accommodate overnight guests and dogs.
The other is a cabin on Loon Lake Road, and after calling a neighbor, they learned that area was already evacuated. They stayed as long as they could before deciding to leave around 6 p.m. with their three dogs: Frankie, Moose and Zoe.
“Every one of us grabbed our vehicle,” Tim Southmayd said. “We had packed up our overnight bag and grabbed our meds and all that, because we didn’t know what we were doing.”
Hobbs, who lives across the street, also packed up her three smaller pups, Tyson, Keats and Hobbs and brought them to the community center. She was driving home from the Crosslake Train Club that afternoon when she noticed the smoke.
“I said, ‘Look at that big cloud,’ because I had a passenger with me, and the rest of the sky was all blue,” Hobbs said. “And I went, “that’s not a cloud.”
Susan Hobbs gives a little piece of pizza to Keats, one of her three dogs, who waited in the car as the Crosslake Community Center prepared to host overnight guests and pets who evacuated from the Flanders Fire area on May 16, 2026.
Jacklin Steege with Crow Wing County Public Health was overseeing the evacuation point. Earlier in the evening, she moved between the community center and the Crosslake Fire Department on Saturday night, as the Minnesota Incident Command System and other state fire officials combined forces with local authorities.
Steege said some people received an evacuation alert on their cellphones who were outside of the immediate zone and showed up at the center, too.
Jacklin Steege of Crow Wing County Public Health is in charge of the evacuation shelter at Crosslake Community Center for those in the fire zone of the Flanders Fire on May 16, 2026. Earlier in the day, Steege, who is also a wildland firefighter with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, was staging in Nimrod in case of a blaze.
Sheriff Eric Klang later confirmed there was some “bleed over” in the polygon they used on the map to send alerts to residents, although he was unsure how many people it affected. Otherwise, deputies were going door to door to alert people it was time to go.
“It’s so early right now and things are so fluid, so people are wanting more information than we have, but as soon as we get the evening briefing done, we’ll share it with them,” Steege said.
Two hours later, Klang was able to tell evacuees they knew of no homes that sustained damage in the fire, though some outbuildings likely succumbed.
While overseeing an evacuation point was unexpected for Steege, Saturday’s fire danger meant she was already on the job. During the day, she reported in to her other role as a wildland firefighter with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. She and others were staged in Nimrod, ready to respond.
“The Nimrod dozer got pulled over there [to the Flanders Fire],” Steege said. “And so we were staging at basically the county line, and waiting to get a call for reinforcements. And that’s when I was like, ‘We got to go back.'”
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— Dogs in Car – Crosslake Wildfire
Moose, left, and Frankie hang out in the car after their owners evacuated to the Crosslake Community Center as a result of the 600-plus-acre Flanders Fire on May 16, 2026.
Chelsey Perkins / KAXE
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— Kara Terry – evacuation center
Crow Wing County Community Services Director Kara Terry tapes paper to windows outside the gymnasium in the Crosslake Community Center to help with privacy for evacuees who would be spending the night due to the Flanders Fire on May 16, 2026.
Chelsey Perkins / KAXE
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— Tammy Southmayd – phone
Tammy Southmayd shows a photo of her three dogs she took as they arrived at the Crosslake Community Center after evacuating from the Flanders Fire on May 16, 2026.
Chelsey Perkins / KAXE
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— Crosslake Community Center sign American Red Cross
An American Red Cross sign attached to the Crosslake Community Center sign marks a disaster relief shelter for those evacuated from the Flanders Fire on May 16, 2026, in Crosslake.
Contributed / Rob Perkins
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— Crosslake Community Center – Red Cross Doors 5-16-26
Signs on the doors of the Crosslake Community Center announce an American Red Cross Disaster Relief Shelter for those evacuated from the Flanders Fire on May 16, 2026, in Crosslake.
Contributed / Rob Perkins
