Doug Ford visits Thunder Bay as northern Ontario fires force evacuations
There are nearly 200 wildfires burning in the province, sending thick smoke across Ontario and into parts of the United States.
Premier Doug Ford is meeting with evacuees and first responders in Thunder Bay, where many people fleeing from the northern Ontario wildfires have gone.
Speaking with reporters on Saturday, Ford said he was informed some 300 people, including campers, were recently evacuated from the wildfires zones.
“So 40 missions to rescue 300 people. And these are individual campers and so on and so forth. These aren’t communities,” he said.
“I want to thank the OPP for doing an incredible job. They’re absolute champions. I want to thank the local Thunder Bay police as well firefighters and and obviously the paramedics are always there as well.”
Several Ontario communities — including Armstrong, Whitesand First Nation, Collins First Nation and Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation (Lac La Croix First Nation) — are under evacuation order as fire rips through.
Other communities are preparing for possible evacuations.
The premier said he was informed there are 191 active wildfires in the province, which is seven more than the previous day. Of those fires, 73 are considered out of control and 91 are being observed.
“Our focus continues to be sending resources to the areas where fire suppression is most likely to be successful and where they can make the biggest impact keeping people and communities safe,” said Ford.
Ford said the fire efforts include 155 crew members, as well as 80 water bombers and helicopters.
The premier added that those who are evacuated from the areas should stay away, so as to not hamper fire suppression efforts.
“Do not, I repeat, do not go to your campsites. Do not go back to your homes if they’re saying not to go back,” he said.
“Don’t go back. We will find you a place, a hotel room, get you food. We’ll make sure you’re well taken care of.”
Ontario’s natural resources minister, Mike Harris, called the wildfire season so far “unprecedented.”
“Since the beginning of this year we’ve been obviously prepping for another season of wildfires here in the province but this year has been unprecedented,” said Harris.
“We’ve seen fire activity like never before, but our folks on the ground and in the air and everybody that’s supporting have been doing an incredible job.”
But Ford has faced backlash over the level of funding and resources the province has allocated for wildfire response, while Harris has fielded criticism for his ministry’s handling of the evacuations of two First Nation communities.
Residents of Whitesand First Nation and Namaygoosisagagun First Nation – also known as Collins First Nation – fled approaching wildfires without help from the province.
“The challenge in Collins is that fire actually started very very close to the community and given the certain weather circumstances that were in place at the time, it was actually moving at a rate of around sort of four to eight kilometers an hour towards the community,” Harris said Saturday.
He added that conditions made it difficult for provincial crews to come assess the situation before the First Nation ultimately made the decision to evacuate from the area themselves.
“It’s just been a challenging situation across the northwest and across Ontario over the last week. So we’ll look back as we do on all of the evacuations and our fire efforts and see if there’s things that we can continue to do better.”
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) confirmed it will begin deploying aircraft and personnel to help with the evacuation of Eabametoong First Nation (Fort Hope) on Saturday, after the province’s request for federal assistance.
Four CC-130 Hercules aircraft will be used to help move community members to safe locations.
“The aircraft’s ability to operate in remote and austere environments makes it a critical asset in supporting emergency response efforts in Northern Ontario,” the CAF said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Ford lashed out at opposition members at Queen’s Park who he alleged are politicizing the situation by claiming he’s underspending on wildfire efforts.
“I will not spare a penny. Not a penny,” he said, “We spent $1.5 billion since I’ve been office. We’re spending $650 million on helicopters and with water bombers.”
Harris said fire activity has “slowed a little bit,” which may help alleviate the thick smoke conditions in the province.
“What we really need to see is some of those sustained rains but without the lightning strikes because in the overwhelming majority of fires that we’re seeing now were actually caused by a storm that came through about a week ago,” he said.
— with a file from The Canadian Press
This story was originally published by Global News on July 18, 2026. CityAM Canada is republishing it for our Canadian readers.