Northwestern Ontario bore brunt of province's wildfire season with evacuations, outages and a record blaze

Sarah Law · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 06, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: November 6

Leonard Mamakeesic says helium learned a batch during this year's wildfire play aft his assemblage was threatened by Ontario's largest wildfire connected record.

The main of Deer Lake First Nation, a distant Oji-Cree assemblage astir 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, said his radical stepped up to assistance 1 different during this summer's evacuation, which saw much than 800 members flown to Toronto.

“The weeks dragged connected and on, and the months dragged connected and started getting a small rough. People wanted to beryllium home,” Mamakeesic said. “Toronto is simply a factual jungle for people” from the community.

Leonard Mamakeesic, main of Deer Lake First Nation, says his assemblage members each worked hard to enactment 1 different during this summer's wildfire evacuation. (Sarah Law/CBC)

The province’s wildfire play officially ended connected Friday — a full of 643 wildfires were reported betwixt April and October.

Nearly 600,000 hectares — astir 6,000 quadrate kilometres — of onshore burned, compared to 480 fires and astir 90,000 hectares, oregon 900 quadrate kilometres, burned the twelvemonth before. Ontario’s 10-year mean is 712 fires and astir 2,100 quadrate kilometres burned.

Nationally, information from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre successful August indicates Canada's 2025 wildfire play was the 2nd worst connected record.

Northwestern Ontario bore the brunt of wildfire enactment successful the province, with 11 communities facing restrictions oregon evacuations. Thousands of radical from distant First Nations were flown to communities successful confederate Ontario arsenic good arsenic Winnipeg. 

Canadian Armed Forces members assistance evacuees from Sandy Lake First Nation successful June. Community members were flown retired by Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130H and CC-130H Hercules craft and provincial aircraft, portion Canadian Rangers and provincial and section authorities assisted connected the ground. (Nicholas Zahari/Department of National Defence)

The region’s largest wildfire, Red Lake 12, peaked astatine much than 196,000 hectares, becoming Ontario’s largest wildfire connected grounds and prompting evacuations successful Deer Lake and Sandy Lake First Nations.

Sandy Lake saw 1 of the astir notable evacuations, wherever Red Lake 12 triggered a effect from the Canadian Armed Forces.

“Fires adjacent quality settlements necessitate a truly robust effect to some combat the occurrence and to assistance the communities successful managing an emergency, truthful however fires impact radical is possibly a amended measurement of a occurrence season's severity,” said Chris Marchand, a Dryden-based occurrence accusation serviceman with the Ministry of Natural Resources' Aviation Forest Fire and Emergency Services.

Union calls for amended wages

The state says it’s hiring 68 imperishable firefighting and enactment unit positions adjacent year. It besides plans to walk much than $500 cardinal connected six caller De Havilland, DHC-515 waterbombers, but those aren’t expected to get until the aboriginal 2030s.

“We request pilots and attraction crews to beryllium capable to enactment those aircraft, truthful we're actively recruiting, we're looking astatine ways that we tin marque compensation arsenic competitory arsenic possible, and moving with our partners and authorities to marque that happen,” Ontario Minister of Natural Resources Mike Harris told CBC News successful an interview.

A chopper hovers implicit the Red Lake 12 wildfire successful northwestern Ontario successful June. (Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services)

The state received further enactment from British Columbia and Wisconsin occurrence crews, arsenic good arsenic craft and instrumentality from Quebec, Alberta and New Brunswick.

In turn, Ontario sent much than 400 occurrence unit and six craft to British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, arsenic good arsenic Minnesota, according to the ministry. 

Lack of unit was a cardinal interest successful northwestern Ontario this season. There were reports of waterbombers being grounded due to the fact that determination weren’t capable pilots to run them.

Harris didn’t enactment a fig to this season’s staffing shortages.

But a connection emailed to CBC from the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) said its members “were forced to accommodate with the resources they had disposable portion being abbreviated implicit 45 crushed crews, equaling a minimum of 135 positions, and an aerial wildfire enactment that was compromised owed to aviator and instrumentality shortages.”

The national is calling for much competitory wages successful bid to contend with the rising outgo of living.

For Mamakeesic's part, helium said he's blessed with the province's effect to Red Lake 12, considering however adjacent the occurrence came to his assemblage — astir 30 metres from his set bureau astatine 1 constituent — and nary structures were lost.

‘The worth of aboriginal preparedness’

This year’s play got disconnected to an aboriginal commencement successful mid-May, Marchand explained, demonstrating "how a fewer weeks of adust upwind combined with precocious winds and debased humidity tin nutrient that utmost occurrence behaviour successful forests that haven't greened up yet.”

The wildfires prompted prolonged air-quality statements and warnings crossed the portion owed to smoke, which astatine times were combined with vigor warnings.

Half a twelve communities successful the portion besides faced days-long powerfulness outages aft wildfires damaged a bid of hydro poles, resulting successful nutrient spoilage, overheating successful homes, and shortages of food, substance and different indispensable supplies.

Chris Marchand, a occurrence accusation serviceman with Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources' Aviation Forest Fire and Emergency Services successful Dryden, says this year’s wildfire play got disconnected to an aboriginal commencement successful May due to the fact that of adust upwind combined with precocious winds and debased humidity. (Submitted by Chris Marchand )

While galore First Nations saw evacuees divided up among big communities, Mamakeesic said helium fought to support his radical together. About 5 years ago, helium said, evacuees from Deer Lake were divided up crossed Cornwall, Cochrane and Thunder Bay, which made it hard to support way of everyone and marque definite their needs were met.

“Keep your assemblage and your leaders successful 1 place,” Mamakeesic said. “I deliberation that's the champion happening to do.”

Looking to adjacent season, Mamakeesic hopes to larn much astir extortion measures specified arsenic firebreaks successful forests, which are meant to dilatory oregon halt the dispersed of fires.

As for Marchand, helium said though Ontario’s outdoor burning regulations person been lifted for the season, it’s important to support educating radical astir occurrence prevention.

“The 2025 wildland occurrence play truly showed the worth of aboriginal preparedness erstwhile outpouring occurrence conditions contiguous arsenic they did this past May,” helium said.

“We cognize from years specified arsenic this 1 however accelerated the occurrence concern tin escalate, and the request to beryllium vigilant and afloat operational astatine that aboriginal signifier of the season.”