I’m considering a trip to the numbered lakes. Is it possible to hang a bear bag in the area that is impacted by the Pagami fire or should I plan on bringing a canister?

I would guess, as in other places with fires, the FS was able to save the vegetation surrounding some of the campsites, but probably not all. I would take the canisters or at least a blue barrel.

Many of the campsites I have visited lately even in non-burn areas are getting tough to find places to hang a food pack from. Lots of broken branches way up into the trees most likely to work for a hang. Hang when you can and have the food in canisters/blue barrels already for when you can't is going to be my new plan.

Lately, I have been using 5 gallon buckets from hardware stores for food protection. The lack of proper trees in many locations has led to this change in my tripping. I take Duct Tape and liberally tape the lid down with good results even when a bear has obviously been in camp. Waste plastic goes into one for the carry out at the end of the trip.
While this may not be ideal, it works for us.

I also take one bucket for items which do not need to be squashed in a bag such as my water filtration system. We use 2. Also is handy for smaller misc items such as binoculars and a book. Obviously, I double portage, which for us is standard procedure anyway, on the way to a base camp.

Ursack

Blatz: "Ursack"

Ursack fan here, they make two sizes, the big one holds alot of food.

Blatz: "Ursack"

+1

I've given up on hanging, both on account of campsites without good trees and not wanting to damage trees. A pair of bear vaults hold plenty for a week of good eating on my solo trips

I've been taking a canister and an ursack with "smelly proof" bags for the ursack to make it harder to find.

We went thru the numbers chain a couple years ago and most sites did have a couple large trees, but they were all right next to the fire gate, so not the preferred location. All the trees back in the woods were new growth and really difficult to find a good hang.