2025 Canadian wildfires

2025 Canadian wildfires
Date(s)	May 2025 — ongoing
Location	Manitoba Ontario
Statistics
Total fires	~100 (as of May 15, 2025)
Total area	181,200 ha (448,000 acres) (as of May 15, 2025)
Impacts
Deaths	2 civilians
Evacuated	1,000
Structures destroyed	28
Season
← 2024

The ongoing 2025 Canadian wildfire season has resulted in approximately active 100 wildfires active across various Canadian provinces in mid-May 2025, primarily in Manitoba and Ontario. Two civilians lost their lives in the town of Lac du Bonnet located northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Wildfires

Manitoba

In Manitoba during mid-May, five fires were classified as "out of control". Fire conditions were exacerbated by a concurrent heat wave, with Winnipeg recording a temperature of 37 °C (99 °F) on 13 May, breaking a temperature record that had stood for 125 years.

A wildfire located north of Whiteshell Provincial Park grew to over 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres). Dense smoke from the fire hampered aerial firefighting operations, forcing crews to focus on property protection in safer areas. A fire of 42,000 hectares (100,000 acres) in northwestern Manitoba had approximately forty firefighters from British Columbia assigned to it since 13 May. A fire in Piney close to the Manitoba-United States border grew to 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres).

On 15 May, a severe wildfire near the town of Lac du Bonnet to the northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba, resulted in two civilian fatalities in mid-May 2025. The victims, identified as an adult male and female, perished when they became trapped by rapidly advancing flames. Firefighters received reports of the trapped couple, but were unable to reach them due to the fire's intensity. Mayor of Lac du Bonnet Ken Lodge noted that the developed and spread at an exceptional speed and intensity. The fire expanded to approximately 10,000 acres (4,000 ha), necessitating the evacuation of roughly 1,000 residents from the town and surrounding communities. The fire destroyed twenty-eight structures in the Grausdin Point area.

Ontario

An out-of-control fire that originated in Ingolf, Ontario in the Kenora District spread into Manitoba on 14 May. The fire was estimated at 23,000 hectares (57,000 acres) on the Ontario side, with officials having not yet determined the extent of its encroachment into Manitoba.

On 14 May 2025, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources issued an implementation order for areas surrounding the fire designated as "Sioux Lookout 3." The wildfire, first reported on 13 May, was located north of Savant Lake and had expanded to cover more than 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres). Another wildfire designated as "Fort Frances 4" located north of Crystal Lake grew to over 3,200 hectares (7,900 acres) as of 15 May.

Responses

Authorities ordered the complete closure of Whiteshell Provincial Park, beginning at 9:00 AM on May 15, with mandatory evacuation to be completed by 1:00 PM the same day. Flags at the Manitoba Legislative Building were lowered to half-mast to pay respect to the two people killed by the fire in Lac du Bonnet.

See also

• Wildfires in 2025
• List of wildfires