NW Forest Fire Region Update – August 3

Updated: August 3, 2026 at 6:35 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT)

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There were 2 new wildland fires confirmed in the Northwest Region by the evening of August 3.

• Nipigon 93 (NIP093) is located approximately 6 kilometres south of Kasibonika Lake First Nation. The 1.0-hectare fire is not under control.
• Nipigon 94 (NIP094) is located approximately 10 kilometres west of Neskantaga First Nation, east of Kabania Lake. The 0.1-hectare fire is being held.

At the time of this update there are 119 active wildland fires in the Northwest Region. Of those fires, 24 are not under control, 6 are being held, 7 are under control 82 are being observed. There have been 8 fires called out since the previous update.

Fires of note

The Rinker Lake Complex – Thunder Bay 36 (THU036), Dryden 34 (DRY034), Dryden 35 (DRY035)

There are 16 wildland firefighting crews from Ontario and Alberta, two 20-person crews of wildland firefighters from Mexico, heavy equipment operators, pilots, overhead staff from Ontario and Québec, and an Incident Management Team assigned to the Rinker Lake Complex.

Across these fires, firefighting crews are focused on establishing hoselines, patrolling for and extinguishing hot spots, and installing and maintaining values protection equipment. Heavy equipment operators are continuing to construct fire guards on portions of the THU036 perimeter.

• THU036 is currently measuring 307,271 hectares and remains not under control.
• DRY034 is currently measuring 44,308 hectares and remains not under control.
• DRY035 is currently measuring 31,510 hectares and remains not under control.

Atikokan Cluster – Fort Frances 13 (FOR013), Fort Frances 14 (FOR014), Fort Frances 15 (FOR015), Fort Frances 38 (FOR038) 

• FOR013 is located in the southeastern side of Quetico Provincial Park. The fire is not under control at 25,279 hectares. Operations staff are assessing priorities and opportunities to place crews in strategic locations on the fire’s perimeter.
• FOR014 and FOR015 have been exhibiting relatively low fire behaviour and have not grown or moved toward major travel corridors in recent weeks. FOR014 is currently measuring 51,768 hectares and remains not under control. Bucketing helicopters continue to support crews on the ground, working inward from the fire’s perimeter to extinguish hotspots. FOR015 is currently measuring 42,273 hectares and remains not under control. Crews are continuing to patrol for hotspots and establish hoselines around the fire perimeter
• FOR038, north of Crystal Lake has been called OUT at 44.2 hectares in size.

Dryden 36 – Upper and Lower Moosehide Lakes

The fire is being held at 1,710 hectares. Being held indicates that with currently committed resources, sufficient suppression action has been taken so that the fire is not likely to spread beyond existent or predetermined control boundaries under prevailing or forecasted conditions. Ontario FireRangers, Type-2 crews, and firefighting crews from Mexico continue their hard work on ground suppression efforts, supported by bucketing helicopters. Low fire behaviour has observed in recent days under favourable weather conditions.

Highway 599 Cluster – Sioux Lookout 84 (SLK084), Sioux Lookout 86 (SLK086), Sioux Lookout 89 (SLK089)

There has been no fire recent growth observed on cluster of fires. There are currently 128 personnel assigned to the incident, supported by five helicopters. Across all three fires, firefighters are using hand tools, pumps, and hose to extinguish remaining sources of heat. Helicopter bucketing operations were not required today due to the rainfall received this morning. An infrared scan is planned for this evening for all three fires to detect and map remaining sources of heat, allowing fire operations staff to accurately locate and extinguish hotspots

• SLK084 is currently measuring 4,796.6 hectares and remains not under control.
• SLK086 is currently measuring 5,644 hectares and remains not under control.
• SLK089 is currently measuring 7,190.1 hectares and remains not under control.