CANADA VIBES NEWSROOM · ÉDITION DU SOIR | EVENING EDITION — Thursday, July 30, 2026, 7:06 PM ET
From coast to coast, wildfire season keeps intensifying: British Columbia has expanded an evacuation order to 70 Mile House, while Ontario is fighting the largest wildfire in its recorded history.
In British Columbia, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District expanded its evacuation order to the small community of 70 Mile House after the Pear Lake and Fiftynine Creek wildfires merged over the weekend. The resulting Big Bar complex now covers roughly 634 square kilometres. The order affects about 650 properties along Highway 97 between Kelly Lake and north of 70 Mile House, with another 443 properties under evacuation alert.
In Ontario, the Thunder Bay 36 fire, ignited July 12 and formed by the merger of the Dryden 13 fire with several others, had reached roughly 314,000 hectares by late July, making it the largest wildfire in the province’s recorded history. The community of Namaygoosisagagun was destroyed, and significant damage was reported at Whitewater Lake. At least a dozen communities were evacuating, including Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (Gull Bay First Nation), under a mandatory evacuation. The Canadian Red Cross set up a reception centre at Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
Nationally, nearly four million hectares have burned so far this season, a toll officials say is hard to contain while weather conditions remain unfavourable.
What to watch
Changes to evacuation orders in both provinces; air quality and smoke spread; containment progress on Thunder Bay 36.
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