Ontario facing worst wildfire season on record as 7,250+ square kilometres burn

Wildfires raging in northern Ontario have pushed the province to its worst wildfire season on record.

The province's latest numbers suggest fires have burned through more than 7,250 square kilometres of Ontario's forest, surpassing the previous record set in 2021. The preliminary estimate is likely to be revised once officials assess the full devastation—Premier Doug Ford said Monday that 7,350 square kilometres of forest had already burned—but it stands as a sign of how quickly the season has worsened.

The vast majority of that fire has burned in the past 10 days, on the back of severe thunderstorms and a scorching heat wave around Thunder Bay where temperatures soared to around 15 degrees above seasonal. The largest contributor to Ontario's total is a massive 3,188-square-kilometre fire north of Thunder Bay.

Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, is making wildfire seasons longer and more intense across Canada. Ontario's fast-moving fires have prompted the evacuation of more than a dozen, mostly First Nation, communities and filled skies across the province and beyond with noxious smoke.

Recent rain has helped temper fire activity in northern Ontario, but officials warn the danger remains high. "There hasn't been enough rain in the northwestern part [of Ontario] to really knock things down for the long term," said Liam Buchart, a fire weather specialist with the Canadian Forest Service. Into August, the forecast suggests much of northern Ontario could remain hotter and drier than normal, with no "complete reprieve" expected.