Crews battle fire at Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area

Fire crews are working to knock down flames as a brush fire burns at Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area in Anoka County on Wednesday. Anoka County deputies say the fire is burning in the area of West Broadway Avenue between Lexington Ave NE and Kettle River Boulevard, mostly on the east side of the wildlife area.

COLUMBUS, Minn. (FOX 9) - Fire crews worked to knock down the flames of a brush fire that burned at Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area in Anoka County on Wednesday.

Anoka County deputies said the fire was burning in the area of West Broadway Avenue between Lexington Ave NE and Kettle River Boulevard, mostly on the east side of the wildlife area.

Aerial video showed smoke coming from a wooded area. Deputies are asking residents to avoid the area.

Lingering dry conditions and windy weather have made brush fires a risk on Wednesday. Most of Minnesota is under burning restrictions due to the fire risks. The state says it received more than 25 reports of brush fires throughout the state on Wednesday.

"The largest concentration of wildfires occurred in the central region of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area, where persistent drought has been building since this summer," a spokesperson with the Minnesota DNR's incident command system reported.