News from Thunder Bay: The fire burning north of Thunder Bay is hundreds of thousands of hectares in size and is out of control, according to the provincial government’s evacuation notice early on Monday.
The aftermath of a forest fire north-west of Thunder Bay on July 18. An evacuation order has been expanded for communities north of Thunder Bayas a forest fire measuring hundreds of thousands of hectares burns out of control. The Ontario government made public the evacuation order at 7 a.m.
on Monday, urging people near blazes labelled Thunder Bay 36, 54 and 56 and Dryden 34 and 35 to “immediately evacuate the areaindicated on the attached map.” The evacuation order was released “due to the evolving situation and increased fire behaviour of multiple wildland fires,”Ontario Forest Blazes wrote on X. TheGull Bay First Nationand Whitesand First Nation, north of Armstrong, are among two of the communities included in the active evacuation order. An evacuation order has been put out by the Thunder Bay – Ignace District due to the evolving situation and increased fire behaviour of multiple wildland blazes including Thunder Bay 36, 54 & 56 and Dryden 34 & 35.pic.twitter.com/emu7IZHl4C The fire dubbed the Lakehead 36 is one of the largest in Ontario measuring more than 318,800 hectares. It’s burning in Wabakimi Provincial Park but has sprawled south, inching closer to Armstrong and Gull Bay.
But space is beginning to get tight, as more and more communities pack up and flee their homes.
Despite recent rain in the area that temporarily reduced fire activity, the blaze is still considered out of control. “FireRanger crews and heavy devices operators are assigned to suppression efforts,” the provincial government noted in its notice. A reception centre has been opened atFort William Gardensin Thunder Bay to support evacuees. But space is beginning to get tight, as more and more communities pack up and flee their homes. The Neskantaga First Nation had planned another evacuation flight Monday, with evacuees heading to Toronto as the northwestern Ontario hub faces limited hotel space. Thunder Bay has become a hub for people from across the region forced to flee, many wondering These new evacuations hundreds of kilometres north of the Lakehead of the regional capital are in response to more than 146 active wildland blazes ravaging forests in the northwest region of Ontario. The northeast region, closer to Toronto, is seeing 46 active blazes, including six not under control. Last week, northwesterly winds had pushed the smoke from the wildfires down to southern Ontario,blanketing cities like Toronto in an orange haze for a day. Anair quality alert lasted several days, ending only on Sunday just before the new evacuation notices in the north. Toronto’s air quality health index rating is a two, or low risk, withEnvironment Canada forecastingmuch the same conditions throughout the day. Daniyah Yaqoob is a staff reporter with the Toronto Star. She can be reached atdyaqoob@torstar.ca. Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:.
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📍 Source: Web Search · By: News Staff · 🗓️ August 03, 2026 · 🏠 ThunderBay.Online
