Wawa-news.com Local and Regional News
Updated: July 17, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT)
A total of 7 new wildland fires were discovered in the Northwest Region since the previous update.
- Nipigon 67 (NIP067) was confirmed in the evening hours of July 16, approximately 7 kilometres west of Crib Extension Road, southeast of Cavell Lake. The 5.0-hectare fire is not under control.
- Nipigon 68 (NIP068) was confirmed in the evening hours of July 16, north of Percy Lake. The 0.7-hectare fire is not under control.
- Kenora 19 (KEN019) was located on an island in Black Sturgeon Lakes, east of Peterson Road. The fire was called out at 0.1 hectares.
- Fort Frances 40 (FOR040) was located near Rocky Island Road and Hopkins Bay Islet Road. The fire was called out at 0.1 hectares.
- Fort Frances 41 (FOR041) is located north of Secret Lake, near Sedgwick Lake Road. The 0.1-hectare fire is under control.
- Sioux Lookout 98 (SLK098) is located near the north end of Michikenis Lake. The 110.0-hectare fire is being observed.
- Sioux Lookout 99 (SLK099) is located approximately 4.5 kilometres north of Wharram Lake. The 136.6-hectare fire is being observed.
At the time of this update there are 131 active wildland fires in the Northwest Region. Of those fires, 62 are not under control, 4 fires are being held, 5 fires are under control 60 fires are being observed.
Two Ontario Incident Management Teams have been deployed to Northwestern Ontario to help manage clusters of active wildland fires in the Fort Frances and Thunder Bay sectors.
Additional resources from Alberta and Yukon are inbound to support the Northwestern Ontario wildland fire response. This support includes firefighting aircraft, helicopters, equipment, and personnel to assist with wildfire suppression and incident management efforts.
To access the current forest fire danger rating in your area visit our interactive fire map.
Fires of note
Thunder Bay 36 (THU036)
- The large fire located in Wabakimi Provincial Park will be referred to as Thunder Bay 36 (THU036) following the merging of several fires.
- Thunder Bay 36 has been remapped to 318, 812.7 hectares.
Fort Frances 14 (FOR014) and Fort Frances 15 (FOR015)
- FOR014 fire is sized at 55,106.3 hectares and is not under control.
- FOR015 is sized at 48,261.4 hectares and is not under control.
- The northern perimeter of FOR014 is approximately 5 kilometres southwest of the Trans-Canada Highway.
- The southern perimeter of FOR014 is approximately 8 kilometres north of Highway 11.
- The fire areas received varying amounts of early morning rainfall with higher amounts in the south.
- Fire behaviour has been significantly less active over the past 48 hours due to low wind speeds, higher relative humidity levels and recent rainfall. Minimal growth has been observed in the past 24 hours.
Among the areas where fires saw significant growth on July 13 and 14 include:
- Namaygoosisagagun First Nation (Collins)/Armstrong/Whitesands FN (Wildland Fire Thunder Bay 36)
- McDowell First Nation (Wildland Fire Red Lake 23)
- Quetico Provincial Park/ Atikokan area (Wildland Fire Fort Frances 15 and Wildland Fire Fort Frances 38)
- Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation (Wildland Fire Fort Frances 39 and Minnesota’s ‘Thumb Fire’)
- Lac Des Mille Lacs/Upsala area (Wildland Fire Fort Frances 14)
- Mishkeegogamang First Nation (multiple fires)
- Wabakimi Provincial Park (multiple merged fires)
- Cat Lake (multiple fires)
- Fort Hope (Nipigon 36 and Nipigon 58)
Our focus continues to be on priority areas where fire suppression efforts are most likely to be successful, with top priorities being the protection of wildland firefighting personnel and public safety, critical infrastructure, and capturing, where possible, new fires.
The types of wildland fires we are seeing on the landscape, either large in size or close to communities or other important structures or resources, require the full deployment of our available resources.
- Northwest Forest Fire Update – July 17 - July 17, 2026
- Northeast Forest Fire Update – July 17 - July 17, 2026
- Emergency Wastewater Bypass (Manitouwadge) - July 17, 2026
