Nearly 200 wildfires are blazing across northern Ontario, officials say, already burning a larger swath of land than all of last year’s fires, quickly destroying at least one remote community and leaving some with little time to flee. Premier Doug Ford and other provincial officials in an update Friday gave a sense of the massive and rapidly changing scope of the fires and the efforts to bring them under control. More than 150 fire crews and over 80 water bombers and helicopters are battling the blazes, Ford said, but still there are about 190 wildfires across northern Ontario, with 81 of those fires out of control. Information from the Ministry of Natural Resources shows that 20 new fires were confirmed Friday in the northeast region alone. Evacuating communities at risk and getting people to safety is the most important job, Ford said. “This is a very difficult situation, even to fly in to these communities on dirt runways, when the fire is going and the smoke, our No. 1 priority is to make sure they’re safe, and that’s what we’ve accomplished,” he said. “Last year we had over 600,000 hectares on fire. This year, and it’s changing on a daily, hourly basis, it’s 650,000 acres already. Thank God, no one has died.” Ten northern communities have already been evacuated or have evacuations underway, and four more are preparing for possible evacuations, Ford said. Some First Nations leaders have criticized the government’s response and communication, in particular in the case of Whitesand First Nation and Namaygoosisagagun First Nation -- also known as Collins First Nation -- who evacuated residents without help from the province. Dramatic photos and videos show people fleeing in boats as a wall of thick smoke and flames rose from behind them. Natural Resources Minister Mike Harris said the fire near Collins First Nation started very close to the community and was spreading four kilometres per hour, a rate that is “unheard of,” so there was not a lot of lead time to get crews over there. “We have not seen fire behaviour like this,” he said. “From the time the fire was spotted to the time it was essentially on top of everybody, it was only within a couple of hours, so we did our best.” Smoke from the fires in northern Ontario has been drifting south, prompting air quality warnings across a large swath of the province, including Toronto. Environment Canada says the hazy, smoky conditions may briefly improve before poor air quality returns. Smoky skies could persist into the weekend, the weather agency said. Communities under evacuation orders include Armstrong, Lac La Croix First Nation, Whitesand First Nation, Gull Bay First Nation and Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation. The province added an evacuation order Friday for an area along Highway 11, east of Atikokan and south of Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation. Ford said that Alberta and the Yukon have sent crews to help Ontario battle the fires. Alberta has said that it also sent 13 aircraft, including two water bombers, to the province. By Kathryn Mannie With files from Allison Jones in Toronto This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2026.
