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NW Forest Fire Region Update – August 11

Updated: August 11, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT)

There were 5 new wildland fires confirmed in the Northwest Region by the early evening of Aug. 11.

  • Thunder Bay 79 (THU079) is located near Dog Lake, approximately 18 kilometers west of Highway 527. The 0.1-hectare fire is under control.
  • Thunder Bay 80 (THU080) is located south of Athelstane Lake, approximately 24 kilometers west of Highway 17. The 0.1-hectare fire is not under control.
  • Fort Frances 65 (FOR065) is located in Quetico Park near Baird Lake, approximately 3 kilometers southeast of McDougall Lake. The 0.3-hectare fire is being held.
  • Kenora 29 (KEN029) is located south of Moth Lake, approximately 2 kilometers south of Highway 17. The 1.5-hectare fire is not under control.
  • Dryden 62 (DRY062) is located on an island on Sturgeon Lake, near East Bay. The 0.1-hectare fire is under control.

At the time of this update there are 110 active wildland fires in the Northwest Region. Of those fires, 11 are not under control, 6 are being held, 10 are under control 83 are being observed.

To access the current forest fire danger rating in your area visit our interactive fire map.

Fires of note

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

  • There is a total of 31 wildland firefighting crews from Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba, heavy equipment operators, pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, overhead staff from Ontario and Québec, and an Incident Management team assigned to the Rinker Lake Complex. There are 15 helicopters currently assigned to this incident.
  • Crews continue working in areas identified by thermal imaging scans and are making good progress clearing identified hotspot areas.
  • Firefighting crews are patrolling for and extinguishing hotspots, consolidating hoselines, installing and maintaining values protection equipment and constructing helipads to allow for mobilization of equipment and gain access to more fire area.
  • Heavy equipment operators are continuing to construct fire guards on portions of the THU036 and DRY035 perimeters.
  • Bucketing helicopter operations are ongoing where required.
  • Values protection systems are being monitored and maintained.
  • THU036 is currently measuring 301,240 hectares and remains not under control.
  • DRY034 is currently measuring 45,800 hectares and remains not under control.
  • DRY035 is currently measuring 31, 478 hectares and remains not under control.

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

  • Using infrared scan data, firefighting crews are making progress on hot spot targets near the perimeters and in internal areas of the fire near structures. The data is collected in the early morning hours by various sensor-equipped aircraft including drones, helicopters, and fixed-wing aircraft.
  • Three crews are demobilizing hoselines and recycling fire fighting equipment at various locations across Atikokan Cluster of Fires.
  • A total of 8 helicopters are assigned to the Atikokan Cluster of fires.
  • Low fire behaviour has been observed on all 3 fires.
  • On the north end of FOR014 where water sources are scarce, FireRanger crews are patrolling the perimeter and using helicopter buckets to extinguish hot spots-working up to approximately 100 feet inward from the perimeter.
  • Crews are patrolling the north and northeast side of FOR015 for hot spots utilizing bucketing support from the helicopters in often challenging terrain.
  • A total of 67 firefighters are working on various assignments across 2 divisions of Fort Frances 14.
  • FOR013 is currently measuring 25,279 hectares and remains not under control.
  • FOR014 is currently measuring 51,768 hectares and remains not under control.
  • FOR015 is currently measuring 42,273 hectares and remains not under control.
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