{"id":107027,"date":"2026-07-20T08:27:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T12:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=107027"},"modified":"2026-07-20T08:27:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T12:27:24","slug":"close-to-200-wildfires-are-active-in-northern-ontario-as-communities-evacuate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/20\/close-to-200-wildfires-are-active-in-northern-ontario-as-communities-evacuate\/","title":{"rendered":"Close to 200 wildfires are active in northern Ontario, as communities evacuate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By David Augustine Nearly 200 wildfires are currently burning across Northern Ontario, with 57 said to be out of control. The majority of the fires are burning in the Northwest region. This comes as Northern Ontario communities prepare for further evacuations as officials warn increased wildfire activity and worsening smoke conditions could continue into the foreseeable future. Neskantaga First Nation is planning another evacuation flight today, with evacuees heading to Toronto as Thunder Bay faces limited hotel space. The Whitewater Lake First Nation reported widespread destruction, including homes, belongings and vital infrastructure, deepening concern and loss across remote communities. Crews say they will prioritize lives, property and critical infrastructure, while restricted fire zones and open-air burning bans remain until further notice across the northwest. Recent rain has slowed some blazes,&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F07%2F20%2Fclose-to-200-wildfires-are-active-in-northern-ontario-as-communities-evacuate%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By David Augustine Nearly 200 wildfires are currently burning across Northern Ontario, with 57 said to be out of control. The majority of the fires are burning in the Northwest region. This comes as Northern Ontario communities prepare for further evacuations as officials warn increased wildfire activity and worsening smoke conditions could continue into the foreseeable future. Neskantaga First Nation is planning another evacuation flight today, with evacuees heading to Toronto as Thunder Bay faces limited hotel space. The Whitewater Lake First Nation reported widespread destruction, including homes, belongings and vital infrastructure, deepening concern and loss across remote communities. Crews say they will prioritize lives, property and critical infrastructure, while restricted fire zones and open-air burning bans remain until further notice across the northwest. Recent rain has slowed some blazes,... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F07%2F20%2Fclose-to-200-wildfires-are-active-in-northern-ontario-as-communities-evacuate%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Close to 200 wildfires are active in northern Ontario, as communities evacuate - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/20\/close-to-200-wildfires-are-active-in-northern-ontario-as-communities-evacuate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Close to 200 wildfires are active in northern Ontario, as communities evacuate - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By David Augustine Nearly 200 wildfires are currently burning across Northern Ontario, with 57 said to be out of control. The majority of the fires are burning in the Northwest region. This comes as Northern Ontario communities prepare for further evacuations as officials warn increased wildfire activity and worsening smoke conditions could continue into the foreseeable future. Neskantaga First Nation is planning another evacuation flight today, with evacuees heading to Toronto as Thunder Bay faces limited hotel space. The Whitewater Lake First Nation reported widespread destruction, including homes, belongings and vital infrastructure, deepening concern and loss across remote communities. Crews say they will prioritize lives, property and critical infrastructure, while restricted fire zones and open-air burning bans remain until further notice across the northwest. Recent rain has slowed some blazes,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/20\/close-to-200-wildfires-are-active-in-northern-ontario-as-communities-evacuate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-20T12:27:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/20\\\/close-to-200-wildfires-are-active-in-northern-ontario-as-communities-evacuate\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/20\\\/close-to-200-wildfires-are-active-in-northern-ontario-as-communities-evacuate\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Close to 200 wildfires are active in northern Ontario, as communities evacuate\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-20T12:27:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/20\\\/close-to-200-wildfires-are-active-in-northern-ontario-as-communities-evacuate\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":166,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/20\\\/close-to-200-wildfires-are-active-in-northern-ontario-as-communities-evacuate\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/20\\\/close-to-200-wildfires-are-active-in-northern-ontario-as-communities-evacuate\\\/\",\"name\":\"Close to 200 wildfires are active in northern Ontario, as communities evacuate - 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