Forest fires
Find information about the current danger, activity and fire restrictions of forest fires and grass and brush fires across Ontario.
Restricted Fire Zone in effect
A Restricted Fire Zone (RFZ) is in effect for the Northwest Region and a small portion of the Northeast Region. Learn more about the current RFZ boundaries and restrictions.
Report a fire
To report a wildland fire (including grass, brush and forest fires) call
South of the French and Mattawa rivers call 911.
Interactive fire map
Real time updates.
Our interactive map visually shows active fires, current fire danger across the province and restricted fire zones in effect.
The map now shows perimeters for some fires over 40 hectares in size. Note that not all fires are mapped and perimeters are not updated every day (may differ from the size reported in the table).
Most of the data used in the Interactive Map is available on Ontario GeoHub.
We recommend using Google chrome as your web browser to access the map.
Ontario's fire season starts April 1
Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services reminds the public that outdoor fire rules are in effect throughout Ontario’s legislated fire season, which runs from April 1 to October 31. To dispose of yard waste and woody debris, we encourage the use of alternatives such as composting or utilizing your local landfill. If you must burn, use caution and follow the rules outlined in Ontario’s Wildland Fire Management regulation.
Fires are to be ignited no sooner than 2 hours before sunset and extinguished no later than 2 hours after sunrise. Always ensure you have adequate tools and water available to contain the fire at the site. Know the rules for safe outdoor burning. Read the full set of outdoor fire rules.
Residents within municipal boundaries must also check with their local fire department for burning restrictions or permitting requirements prior to burning.
Wildland Fire Management Act
Effective April 1, several regulatory changes come into effect as a result of updates to the Wildland Fire Management Act. These amendments will help to ensure greater awareness of rules designed to prevent unwanted human-caused fires and include:
- A new Ontario Regulation 44/26 (Administrative Penalties) to establish a framework for issuing administrative monetary penalties for contraventions of the Act or its regulations, generally before a wildland fire has occurred.
- Replacing the Outdoor Fires regulation with the Ontario Regulation 43/26 (Wildland Fire Management) to clarify, streamline, and reduce permit requirements.
- Amendments to the existing cost recovery regulation.
- Updates to short form wordings in an existing regulation.
These amendments will help modernize wildland fire management and protect Ontario communities throughout current and future wildland fire seasons. To learn more about the updates now in effect, keep an eye out for our social media posts this month or visit the Wildland Fire Management Act webpage found on e-Laws.
Learn more about the regulations.
- Ontario Regulation 44/26 (Administrative Penalties)
- Ontario Regulation 43/26 (Wildland Fire Management)
Forest fire updates
Northeast Region
Updated: July 17, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
2 new wildland fires were confirmed in the Northeast Region today.
- North Bay 34 measures 0.1 of a hectare and is located on a small island on the northern bay of Sand Lake, approximately 9 kilometres northeast of Restoule Provincial Park. This fire is being observed to allow for the natural benefits of fire on the landscape, as it is safely away from communities and infrastructure.
- Sudbury 28 is 0.1 of a hectare in size and is located near Eatlots Lake, which is a small lake west of Lake Wanapitei. One fire crew is responding.
There are currently 60 active wildland fires in the Northeast Region. Of these fires: 10 are not under control, 7 are being held, 12 are under control and 31 are being observed.
To access the current forest fire danger rating in your area visit our interactive fire map.
Northwest Region
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.
Evacuation Order - Fort Frances 14
- All persons must immediately evacuate the area indicated on the attached map unless authorized by a travel permit issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources.
- All persons are prohibited from entering the area indicated on the attached map unless authorized by a travel permit issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Review the Evacuation Order Map here.
This Order is in effect as of July 17, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time until such time as the order is revoked.
For exemption permit information, please call
Updated restrictions in effect - Fort Frances 14
The Ministry of Natural Resources’ Thunder Bay - Ignace has invoked an Implementation Order now in effect for the purposes of public safety and fire suppression, for areas near Fort Frances 14, under the Emergency Area Order EAO 2026-09 declared on July 17, 2026.
All travel and use of as outlined in the identified area on the attached Implementation Order map within the EAO is prohibited unless authorized by a permit to engage in specified activities
issued by the Thunder Bay-Ignace District of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). These include:
- Athelstane Road
- Blind Bay Road
- Chief Peter Lake Road
- Crayfish Road
- Davidson Road
- Dexter Road
- Gonyou Road
- Hay Lake Road (South of Highway17)
- Huronian Road
- Inwood Township Road
- J.D. Hackman Road
- Kashabowie Road
- Lac Des Mille Lac Road
- Lily Lake Road
- Pipeline Road
- Sapawe Road
- Sawmill Bay Road
- Seine East Road
- Seine River Road
- Stetham Lake Road
- Upsala Road
All modes of travel/access into and all Crown lands as outlined in the identified area on the attached Implementation Order map within the EAO is prohibited unless authorized by a permit to engage in specified activities issued by the Thunder Bay - Ignace District of the MNR. These include:
- Atikokan River
- Beaver River
- Boundary Lake
- East Divide Lake
- Firesteel River
- Hay River
- Huronian Lake
- Inwood Creek
- Inwood Lake
- Kashabowie Lake
- Kashabowie River
- Lac des Mille Lac
- Little Kabaigon Lake
- Little Savanne River
- McKay Creek
- Mud Lake
- Nemiman Lake
- Obadinaw River
- Postans Lake
- Savanne River
- Seine River
- Sitches Lake
- Union Lake
- Upsala Creek
- Windigoostigwan Lake
This Order is in effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on July 17, 2026 until such time as the order is revoked.
For more information on this Implementation Order, please call
Expanded Evacuation Alert - Fort Frances 14
An expanded Evacuation Alert has been issued for areas within the Thunder Bay-Ignace District near the active wildland fire, Fort Frances 14. This is not an Evacuation Order. Residents in the newly identified alert areas are strongly encouraged to prepare for a possible evacuation and be ready to leave on short notice if conditions change.
Please be advised that all areas included in the prior Evacuation Order remain under those orders and evacuation is still required
This includes the following townships:
- Ames
- Begin
- Blackwell
- Colliver
- Conacher
- Duckworth
- Fallis
- Gibbard
- Goldie
- Goodfellow
- GTP Block 2
- GTP Block 3
- GTR Block 4
- Hagey
- Haines
- Horne
- Inwood
- Joynt
- Lamport
- Langworthy
- Laurie
- Michener
- Moss
- Robson
- Savanne
- Soper
- Stedman
- Upsala
- Wardrope
And all areas accessed by:
- Athelstane Road
- Bedivere Road
- Boot Bay Road
- Brule Road
- Burchell Road
- Chief Peter Lake Road
- Connection Road
- Direct Road
- Dog River Road
- Drift Lake Road
- Fortes Lake Road
- Gold Creek Road
- Graham Road
- Haner Road
- Heart Lake Road
- Hoof Lake Road
- Lac Des Mille Lac Road
- Lily Lake Road
- Mine Road
- NeZaadiikaang Rd
- Numac Road
- Rounde Lake Road
- Sapawe Road
- Seine River Road
- Shabaqua Road
- Shelby Lake Road
- Sideen Rd
- Sideen Road
- Swamp Road
- Township Road
- Wawiag North Road
- Wawiag Road
- West Nelson Lake Road
All areas located on the following lakes:
- Shebandowan Lakes
- Kashabowie Lake
- Burchell Lake
- Lac Des Milles Lacs
- Rudge Lake
- Brule Lake
- Baril Lake
- Lang lake
- Huronian Lake
- Peterkin Lake
- Athelstane
- Little Athelstane Lake
- Bundy Lake
- Worthy Lake
- Milton Lake
- Moss Lake
- Rainbow Lake
Please plan ahead and stay connected:
- Make sure you are aware of the current fire situation
- Prepare an emergency bag with your essentials (medicine, passports, legal documents etc.)
- Monitor official channels for updates at ontario.ca/fireupdates
- Be ready to quickly leave if instructed
- Respect evacuation orders, road closures and public officials' direction
- Give crews and aircraft ample space to work
For more information on this evacuation alert, please call
Evacuation Alert - Fort Frances 15 & 38
An evacuation alert has been issued by Dryden Fort Frances Atikokan District due to the evolving situation and increased fire behaviour of multiple wildland fires including Fort Frances 14, Fort Frances 15 and Fort Frances 38. People residing or utilizing the area near the fires are strongly encouraged to prepare to evacuate on short notice.
This includes the following townships:
- Hutchison
- Ramsay Wright
- Trottier
- Weaver
All areas accessed by:
- Boot Lake Road
- Camp 111 Road
- Crooked Pine Lake Road
- Duck Lake Road
- Marion Lake Road
- Premier Lake Road
- Sapawe-Upsala Road
- Stanton Bay Road
- White Lily Road
All areas located on the following lakes:
- Como Lake
- Crystal Lake
- Eva Lake
- Magnetic Lake
- Marion Lake
- Mercutio Lake
- Niobe Lake
- Nydia Lake
- Sapawe Lake
- Whiskeyjack Lake
- Windigoostigwan Lake
Please plan ahead and stay connected:
- Make sure you are aware of the current fire situation
- Prepare an emergency bag with your essentials (medicine, passports, legal documents etc.)
- Monitor official channels for updates at ontario.ca/fireupdates
- Be ready to quickly leave if instructed
- Respect evacuation orders, road closures and public officials' direction
- Give crews and aircraft ample space to work
For more information on this evacuation alert, please call
Evacuation Alert - Fort Frances 39 & Minnesota’s ‘Thumb Fire’
An evacuation alert has been issued by Dryden Fort Frances Atikokan District due to the evolving situation and increased fire behaviour of wildland Fire Fort Frances 39 and Minnesota’s ‘Thumb Fire’. People residing or utilizing the area near the fires, located within Ontario, are strongly encouraged to prepare to evacuate on short notice.
This includes all areas accessed by:
- Lagoon Road
And all areas located on the following lakes:
- Blue Lake
- Cranberry Lake
- Lac La Croix
- Lilac Lake
- Loon Lake
- Queer Rock Lake
- Spring Lake
- Thompson Lake
- Trout Lake
Please plan ahead and stay connected:
- Make sure you are aware of the current fire situation
- Prepare an emergency bag with your essentials (medicine, passports, legal documents etc.)
- Monitor official channels for updates at ontario.ca/fireupdates
- Be ready to quickly leave if instructed
- Respect evacuation orders, road closures and public officials' direction
- Give crews and aircraft ample space to work
For more information on this evacuation alert, please call
NOTAM - Fort Frances 14
There is currently a NOTAM in the area of wildland fire Fort Frances 14, northeast of Byers Lake.
This is over and above the standard airspace restrictions imposed by Section 601.15 of the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) which state that the airspace around all active forest fires is restricted to forest fire suppression aircraft only, specifically airspace within 5 nautical miles, up to an altitude of 3000 feet above ground level.
Pilots are reminded that NOTAMs concerning forest fires can be found on NavCanada’s Collaborative Flight Planning Services under the ‘Weather and NOTAM’ tab, when flight planning.
Restricted fire zones
Northwest Region Restricted Fire Zone
Due to the high to extreme fire hazard, increased wildland fire activity, the current fire load and to reduce the number of human-caused wildland fires, the Ministry of Natural Resources will be implementing a Restricted Fire Zone (RFZ) effective July 15 at 12:01 a.m. local time for the Northwest Region and a small portion of the Northeast Region.
The areas impacted are from the corner of the borders of the USA, Manitoba and Ontario, north along the Manitoba and Ontario border to a point southwest of the Echoing River, then southeast in a straight line to roughly 40 kilometres northeast of the community of Kitchenuhmaykoosib, then east to a point roughly 73 kilometres northwest of the community of Attawapiskat, then south to roughly 12 kilometres south of Highway 11, then west to the northeast tip of Sandlink Lakes, then south following Sandlink Creek to Northeast Bay on McKay Lake, following the eastern shore of McKay Lake to the entrance of the Pic River, then south along the Pic River to Lake Superior Canada/US border in Lake Superior. This order is required to reduce the number of human-caused wildland fires. We are expecting the current fire hazard to remain, along with the potential for problematic fires to continue and expect a continuation of the increased forest fire activity into the foreseeable future.
No open air burning, including campfires, is permitted within the boundaries of a RFZ. Portable gas or propane stoves may be used for cooking and warmth but must be handled with extreme caution. All burning permits are suspended. The RFZ will be in place until further notice.
Northeast Region Restricted Fire Zone (RFZ)
Due to the high to extreme fire hazard, increased wildland fire activity, the current fire load and to reduce the number of human-caused wildland fires, the Ministry of Natural Resources will be implementing an additional section of the RFZ effective July 18 at 12:01 a.m. local time for a portion of the Northeast Region.
The additional areas impacted are from the mouth of the Pic River on Lake Superior, north along the Pic River to the Sandlink Lake area, east to the Ontario–Quebec border through portions of Cochrane District, south to the southeast corner of Cochrane District, west to the area of Opishing Lake, following the borders of Cochrane, Sudbury and Algoma Districts to the area of Easey Lake, south to the Montreal River, west to Lake Superior, and west along the Canada–United States border to the mouth of the Pic River.
This order is required to reduce the number of human-caused wildland fires. We are expecting the current fire hazard to remain, along with the potential for problematic fires to continue and expect a continuation of the increased forest fire activity into the foreseeable future.
No open air burning, including campfires, is permitted within the boundaries of a RFZ. Portable gas or propane stoves may be used for cooking and warmth but must be handled with extreme caution. All burning permits are suspended. The RFZ will be in place until further notice.
Lake Superior Provincial Park is included within this RFZ, even if it is not displayed when viewing RFZ areas on the interactive fire map.
If your municipality has also imposed a fire ban, you must comply with both the restricted fire zone (RFZ) and municipal fire ban.
Contact information
Northeast Region
Isabelle Chenard
Fire Information Officer
Northwest Region
Monitored 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
Shayne McCool and Jonathan Scott
Fire Information Officers
Fort Frances 14 and Fort Frances 15
Chris Marchand
Fire Information Officers
Social media
Check out our Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) accounts for safety tips and other wildland fire related information.
For highway conditions, including road closures, call
For air quality in your area, visit:
public weather alerts for Canada
For smoke drift conditions across North America, visit:
smoke drift across North America
For information about wildland fire smoke and your health, consult:
smoke and your health
Fires: year to date
These figures represent the year-to-date total number of wildland fires inside Ontario’s fire region for the 2026 fire season, as they compare to the 2025 season and to the 10-year average.
- 532fires in 2026
- 362fires in 2025
- 33310-year average
Fire bans in provincial parks
For all park fire bans visit:
Ontario parks alerts
You are responsible for fires you light
From April through October, people using outdoor fires must follow strict guidelines under the Wildland Fire Management Act of Ontario to ensure their fires are properly managed.
Anyone who starts a fire outdoors must take all necessary steps to tend the fire, keep it under control and make sure the fire is out before leaving the site. A person failing to burn safely could be fined and held responsible for the cost of putting out the fire. People living in municipalities should check with local fire officials for bylaws on outdoor fires.
Hunters
- Check the interactive fire map to find out where the active wildland fires are in Ontario.
- Be aware of FireRangers who may be working in wildland areas.
- Check your surroundings for FireRanger activity before discharging your firearm to help keep everyone safe.
About Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES)
Visit our forest, wildland and outdoor fires page for more information on AFFES and wildland fire management, including: