All of the beloved and historic wooden canoes of a YMCA camp near Ely are safe after wildfires prompted the camp to take extraordinary measures to protect them. In July, when approaching wildfires prompted the evacuation of Camp Widjiwagan on the shores of Burntside Lake, it wasn't just campers who left. Canoes sunk under the water to protect them from possible wildfire damage at the YMCA’s Camp Widjiwagan on July 17, on Burntside Lake near Ely. Beloved boatsIn an age of lightweight composite materials like Kevlar, wooden canoes are a rarity in the unforgiving backcountry, where boats must be carried along rocky trails between lakes. The canoes most at risk were actually not those submerged at camp, but rather a mix of boats — wooden, aluminum and Kevlar — abandoned in the wilderness.