Wawa-news.com Local and Regional News
Jul 19, 2026 at 20:23
Updated: July 18, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT)
A total of 8 new wildland fires were discovered in the Northwest Region by the evening of July 18.
- Dryden 38 (DRY038) was located near Patricia Lake, west of existing fire Dryden 36. The fire was called out at 0.1 hectares.
- Nipigon 69 (NIP069) is located approximately 12 kilometres Northwest of Atwood Lake, near Vick Lake. The 2142-hectare fire is not under control.
- Nipigon 70 (NIP070) is located in the northeast side of Wabakimi Provincial Park, near Loune Lake. The 1200-hectare fire is not under control.
- Nipigon 71 (NIP071) is located approximately 28 kilometres northeast of Machawaian Lake. The 6-hectare fire is not under control.
- Nipigon 72 (NIP072) is located approximately 5 kilometres north of Rose Island, Attawapiskat Lake. The 8-hectare fire is not under control.
- Nipigon 73 (NIP073) is located approximately 16 kilometres northeast of Attawapiskat Lake, north of Aldred Lake. The 2-hectare fire is not under control.
- Nipigon 74 (NIP074) is located approximately 17 kilometres west of Attawapiskat River, northeast of Kitchie Lake. The 15-hectare fire is not under control
- Nipigon 75 (NIP075) is located approximately 33 kilometres northwest of Marten Falls First Nation, east of Sebert Lake. The 40-hectare fire is not under control
At the time of this update there are 137 active wildland fires in the Northwest Region. Of those fires, 67 are not under control, 7 fires are being held, 4 fires are under control 59 fires are being observed.
To access the current forest fire danger rating in your area visit our interactive fire map.
Fires of note
Thunder Bay 36 (THU036)
- An Incident Management Team has now assumed command of Thunder Bay 36.
- The fire is currently measuring 318, 812.7 hectares and it not under control.
- There is no update to fire size or perimeter due to poor flying condition the last several days.
- Recent precipitation has helped to temporarily reduce fire activity however the hazard remains high across the fire area.
Fort Frances 14 (FOR014), Fort Frances 15 (FOR015), Fort Frances 38 (FOR038)
- FOR014 was remapped to a more accurate size of 51,806 hectares. The fire is not under control.
- The northern perimeter of FOR014 is approximately 5 kilometres southwest of the Trans-Canada Highway. The southern perimeter is approximately 9 kilometres north of Highway 11.
- FOR015 is sized at 48,261.4 hectares and is not under control.
- The northern perimeter of FOR015 remains approximately 1.5 kilometres south of Highway 11.
- FOR038, north of Crystal Lake, is ‘being held’ at 44.2 hectares in size. The fire is not likely to grow beyond its present boundary.
- Recent rainfall, low wind speeds and high relative humidity have continued to temporarily reduce fire behaviour.
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.
- Today at LSPP – Monday, July 20th - July 20, 2026
- Air Quality – Yellow Alert (July 20) - July 20, 2026
- Evacuation Order – Thunder Bay 36, 54 & 56 and Dryden 34 & 35 - July 20, 2026
