Thought this deserved its own thread, though Jackfish has mentioned he knows folks who saw the lightning strike that started this one.

MNR first notes it on June 30 with a size of 10ha - fairly small but larger than any of the others in the park.

Looks to be on the south shore of the Pickerel River perhaps 300-400m east of the river's mouth into Olifaunt...perhaps 500m west of the portage to Fern.

Looks to be really close to site 560, just south.

Not good. Hope the fire is limited to a small area.

Please update if you hear anything, headed in on Pickerel in about 3 weeks. Or so the plan goes...

OnX has hotspots on this one - abnormal heat and thermal anomolies.

I'm not sure I understand when they changed from letting natural fires burn to putting them out. It's not dry up there and this only makes future fires worse.

This is coming from a guy that knows a lot about forest fire ecology and but nothing of government policies, scientific reasoning of fighting natural fires.

Tom

It's grown to 800ha and possibly taken out the Fern to Olifaunt portage.

It's not good. As of today, the B chain is closed as is the route through Dore and Twin Lakes. The fire is quite large. There is talk of remediation from waterbombers and back burns. But fires outside of the park that threaten populated zones and and commercial forestry areas will be prioritized - and there are some of those as well unfortunately. Then there's that wonderful park management plan that favours occasional burns for forest regeneration. That worked well in 2021.

See closure map on WTIP site, it’s extensive, per that site the fire is now at 2000 acres.
https://wtip.org/wildfire-in-quetico-provincial-park-prompts-closures-and-evacuations/

CedarHillX: "It's grown to 800ha and possibly taken out the Fern to Olifaunt portage."

Sad, that is one of the most beautiful portages

i know some people at the MNR as well and was surprised to here they may be taking some action on this fire as i had always thought the park leaves all fires to burn on their own.
i guess we will see how they proceed.
i was recently in that area (stanton to fern and back) for the first time and it was a beautiful trip. i hope this one does not get out of control. that would be a real shame.
the storm was a pretty bad one. high winds (tornado watch). not much rain or thunder, but tons of lightning.
i could smell the smoke the next evening, and the area had quite a smokey haze on canada day when i was exiting.

The latest from ONX and quite a bit more pronounced than yesterday (no recent satellite photos)

Let’s hope the rainstorm going through as I write this knocks it down.

I hope they do take some action or that some rain comes to help. It’s sad to think about areas you know burning like this. In the long run it’s ok but in the short run it’s hard to accept. I hope it does not end up being another 2021 fire. I appreciate people posting news about it.

rick00001967: "i know some people at the MNR as well and was surprised to here they may be taking some action on this fire as i had always thought the park leaves all fires to burn on their own.
i guess we will see how they proceed.
i was recently in that area (stanton to fern and back) for the first time and it was a beautiful trip. i hope this one does not get out of control. that would be a real shame.
the storm was a pretty bad one. high winds (tornado watch). not much rain or thunder, but tons of lightning.
i could smell the smoke the next evening, and the area had quite a smokey haze on canada day when i was exiting.
"

As far as letting it burn...sure, let remote untraveled areas burn. Not main thoroughfares.

Grown to 1300ha since yesterday. The MNR interactive map shows the fire boundary reaching the shores of Fern, Bud, Beg and PICKEREL!

85-90 degrees every day for the next week or more with no rain in forecast.
Hope they intervene. Fairly light winds though.

I spoke with a park official. They are addressing this thing as best as they can with some smaller aerial drops and other measures but because there's a major fire threatening a first nations reserve NE of Atikokan, the big super scoopers are not currently available.

The other fires in the park that you can see on the map are also being monitored. The one between Dack and Agnes is small, has been smoldering for a month, and is not growing. The one on Jean is on a small island. The one on Kasakakwog was extinguished.

As of now, the winds are fairly mild and not like the "perfect storm" of 2021.

Today’s smoke plume according to OnX

Stayed on the B Chain in May. :-(

i stopped at dawson trail yesterday to talk to the staff. not a good situation. things have been hot a dry here and it is forecast to stay hot with little to no rain.

we will have to hope enough resources can be sent to get this under control or it may turn out to quite devastating for a very popular area.

i sure am glad i was able to see that area for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

now for anyone with upcoming trips anywhere near this area, the question is.....do you cancel all together?? or do you change plans and go in at BH, lerome, or nym for example??

for some, concerns about heavy smoke in the area may be too great a risk, for others, they may simply choose to go in at the west end of the park and hopefully avoid that.

Argo: "

rick00001967: "i know some people at the MNR as well and was surprised to here they may be taking some action on this fire as i had always thought the park leaves all fires to burn on their own.
i guess we will see how they proceed.
i was recently in that area (stanton to fern and back) for the first time and it was a beautiful trip. i hope this one does not get out of control. that would be a real shame.
the storm was a pretty bad one. high winds (tornado watch). not much rain or thunder, but tons of lightning.
i could smell the smoke the next evening, and the area had quite a smokey haze on canada day when i was exiting.
"

As far as letting it burn...sure, let remote untraveled areas burn. Not main thoroughfares. "

lets hope

I have intentionally revisited burned areas, year after year to observe the rebirth of a forest. I go back to the same places every year and I have seen the change and beautiful regrowth of an amazing forest!

A forest is hundreds of years old and we are 40 years old (insert your age).

Walking through a forest is simply a snapshot of the forest on that day.

Wildlife does not care what a forest looks like, only if it will keep them alive.

I walked through a forest that burned in 2008 this past weekend. Unless I told you there was a fire back then, you would have walked through it not even knowing there was a fire.

Forests thrive after a fire. Biodiversity returns. The spruce budworm outbreak is having a big effect on fire behavior this decade.

I hope people that plan to spend a lot of time in the woods over their lifetime start to look at a forest as a living, dynamic ecosystem where fire is part of that.

Don’t get me wrong, I too love a pretty forest and I went through olifaunt and Fern last month. I know the place well and it is close to my heart. I cannot stop nature but rather accept what nature gives me.

We need fire to have our healthy forests!

Tom

In 1996 there was a forest fire in White Sand Provincial Park they came in with water bombers and put it out leaving lots of standing dead. The White Sand and Pikitigushi River are fast flowing free stone Rivers on the top and meandering with Oxbow Lakes on the bottom end . The standing dead Jack Pine have been falling for years and years creating dead fall obstructions around every bend which carries on for miles and miles as these rivers meander their way to Windigo Bay, Lake Nipigon. This is what happened to these rivers making them almost impossible to navigate. I tried canoeing both rivers are very risky and dangerous to navigate. Pikitigushi River (Mud River) is a bit bigger and a little bit easier to navigate but still very difficult to get to Mud River Station CNR from Boucher Brothers Bear Camp on Little Jackfish Road.

two new fires in quetico folks.
one on the south shore of pickerel, just east of the start of the rawn narrows.
the other is just south of the far west end of jesse.
not good.

now for anyone with upcoming trips anywhere near this area, the question is.....do you cancel all together?? or do you change plans and go in at BH, lerome, or nym for example??


We (my family and parents) were set to start on French/Pickerel lake on the 19th. When I saw the update on this thread, many many thanks to you all for keeping it updated, we switched up to Beaverhouse/Quetico lake. Bit disappointing as I was hoping to see the Rawn and Buckingham area which would be new to me, but... I'll take a week anywhere in the north woods over not going at all!

Barca: "now for anyone with upcoming trips anywhere near this area, the question is.....do you cancel all together?? or do you change plans and go in at BH, lerome, or nym for example??
"

My college-aged daughter and I were supposed to start a 10 day Quetico trip with fly-in to King's Point on 7/20 and a south to north traverse of the park. Last week I had a severe flare-up of my lower back problems and sciatica. I ultimately decided that flying my currently troublesome lower back a long ways from an entry/exit point probably wasn't the most responsible thing to do, and I was fortunate to secure one of Wabakimi Outfitter's fly-in outposts for the same time. If we hadn't already changed plans, I would be very leery about putting the two of us into the heart of the park with the current fire situation (not afraid to admit I'm a chicken when it comes to wildfires).

There is also a 30,000+ acre active wildfire within 10ish miles of my home in SW Colorado, so I would really prefer a vacation from breathing smoke everyday.

I got this from the Park this morning. I've been through this area several times and it is a special place to me, I'd hate to add it to the list of burned over areas where safe campsites cease to exist...

Due to a forest fire on the east end of Olifaunt Lake / Pickerel River, the following portage routes and areas are closed until further notice:

- Pickerel Lake to Bisk Lake portage

- Upper Sturgeon to Olifaunt Lake

- Upper Sturgeon to Pickerel River

- Alice Lake to Bonhomme portage.

- Pine Portage Bay, Dore Lake, Twin Lakes and Deux Riviere

- Pickerel Lake from Pickerel Narrows (east side) to Lookout Island (west side)

- Rawn Narrows, Art Lake, Rawn Lake, and Buckingham Lake

joewildlife: "I got this from the Park this morning. I've been through this area several times and it is a special place to me, I'd hate to add it to the list of burned over areas where safe campsites cease to exist...


Due to a forest fire on the east end of Olifaunt Lake / Pickerel River, the following portage routes and areas are closed until further notice:


- Pickerel Lake to Bisk Lake portage


- Upper Sturgeon to Olifaunt Lake


- Upper Sturgeon to Pickerel River


- Alice Lake to Bonhomme portage.


- Pine Portage Bay, Dore Lake, Twin Lakes and Deux Riviere


- Pickerel Lake from Pickerel Narrows (east side) to Lookout Island (west side)


- Rawn Narrows, Art Lake, Rawn Lake, and Buckingham Lake"

I believe they posted these restrictions about three days ago Joe. So nothing new. Their Facebook page indicates an update should be coming Friday.

Not looking positive for my September trip out of Stanton Bay.

mapsguy1955: "Not looking positive for my September trip out of Stanton Bay. "

a lot can, and will happen between now and then. i personally would not be concerned about a sept trip at this point.
i have a buddy coming from europe to do a short trip out of french lake with me in a couple of weeks. i am keeping my fingers crossed.
my wife and i also have a week long trip planned in august. we have not changed any plans yet and will keep a close eye on things. we have a plan B if needed.

OnX smoke and heat indicator overlays today.

My wife and I have a trip planned into Agnes, Louisa, and the S chain the week of July 20. For anyone following this thread with a good sense for risks and likely closures should we be thinking about a plan B?

I know the smoke could be pretty bad, too, which could be a factor.

apk: "My wife and I have a trip planned into Agnes, Louisa, and the S chain the week of July 20. For anyone following this thread with a good sense for risks and likely closures should we be thinking about a plan B?


I know the smoke could be pretty bad, too, which could be a factor."

I was down at the bottom end of Sturgeon near Fred Lake in 2021 just before the great conflagration reached that area. Even though those smoke drift maps look intimidating, I wouldn't be too concerned as the smoke is really at altitude. We had no air quality issues that affected us. We didn't have any respiratory pre-conditions though. Sunsets were stunning.

We were on Rawn Lake off of Pickerel. June 28-July 5 2026 Didn’t smell any smoke. Beautiful sunny day. Sky turned orangish. Our site faced east. Walked to the portage connecting Rawn to Art. Saw the plume of smoke from Olifaunt fire. Texted our kids to ask them to call ranger station. Rangers .( We have TMobile - has satellite texting) They said we could stay the night and leave next day but it would get smoky .Decided to leave. Took off at 6:30 pm and canoed to an island site about 3 hours away. Headed out the next day. Very smoky next day on Pickerel towards west. Passed rangers in motorboat on their way to sites to tell people to leave. We had the ONx app. We knew there was a fire at Olifaunt but didn’t see any smoke until afternoon of July 5. Be weather aware! Stay safe everyone.
The pic is from portage on Rawn to Art Lake.

Picture is on Pickerel . Olifaunt fire in background. We saw burnt leaves floating in the water and ash falling from the sky as we were paddling..

On June 30th, we paddled from Pickerel through Bisk, Beg, Bud, Fern and stopped a little after noon for lunch at campsite 18E on the east end of Olifaunt and became windbound for the rest of the day. The site is about 1 kilometer west of where they indicate the fire started June 30. We didn't notice any smoke that day nor the next morning when we left. We continued our route down to Kawnipi and on July 4th, while making our way back north, we were paddling on Keats Lake when we started seeing two smoke plumes rising from the Olifaunt fire.
We camped on Russell Lake the night of the 4th then headed through Sturgeon, Lonely, Walter Elizebeth to Jesse on the 5th and the plume was really growing. We saw some spotter planes flying over to the fire.
We left Jesse on July 6th to paddle through Maria, up to Pickerel Narrows then turned to head east on Pickerel Lake. The wind had generally been from the west for a few days so we never had any issue with smoke. We stopped early afternoon for lunch about 1 kilometer west of Emerald Island and the winds shifted to be from the south and heavy smoke began moving in. As we continued east, burnt pine needles and burnt leaves were falling from the sky. Just as we reached Emerald Island, two rangers pulled up in a motorboat and asked where we planned on camping. They showed us a map of the closed area and unfortunately, the site we were headed to was in the closure. They said they were anticipating aerial fire suppression beginning the next day and that we could camp on an island at the mouth of Stanton Bay (our exit point). They also warned us of more severe thunderstorms moving in during the evening. A big storm with strong wind and a fairly heavy rain did in fact hit from about 7-9pm.
The morning of the 7th was cooler with low cloud and the smoke plume was not very visable. Throughout the day we saw a few helicopters flying around the fire presumably dropping buckets of water on hotspots. On the morning of the 8th we exited at Stanton Bay under sunny, calm conditions and very little smoke visible from the fire. We had hopes that maybe the worst of the fire was over but warm dry conditions were back in the forecast.
We very likely could have been one of the last people to see the beautiful Beg, Bud, Fern to Olifaunt route before it burnt.

One can see the smoke plume from the Olifaunt Fire and Agnes /Dack fire here (image is from 7am 7/12) - plume is moving from the SW to the NE.


And you can put it motion here (visible only works in daylight hours)

Quetico smoke plumes

From experience those are both rather large fires- but nothing like 2021 when you could see fire at night on visible satellite and during day and night on "Natural Fire" color RGB imagery. Hopefully none of the fires in the BW/Q get anywhere near that monster of 2021.

Yesterday's sat image

sns: "Yesterday's sat image


"

Interesting. It looks like the Olifaunt fire is has mostly burned itself out but for some of the leading edges in the north and NW. And perhaps this is entirely normal. But to my untrained eye, it looks like the remainder of the B Chain will be spared.

From where do you obtain thes images?

It looks like it is from the copernicus browser.
You can use the True Color layer or the SWIR layer (which shows active hot spots)

Olifaunt fire

I'd bet good dollars (freedoms or loonies) that there's still plenty of activity on the east side too...just not as hot as the NW. I don't think we're done with this one by a long shot, not with this forecast...

sns: "I'd bet good dollars (freedoms or loonies) that there's still plenty of activity on the east side too...just not as hot as the NW. I don't think we're done with this one by a long shot, not with this forecast..."

They are calling for 10-15 mm of rain between Thursday night and Friday morning around Atikokan. Can't hurt.

I hope I am wrong; the Ontario fire map page has not updated the Olifaunt fire in a about three days...

However the satellite imagery from today sure makes it look this fire made a big ENE run. The wind has pivoted to the NW, showing the length of the run...I am seeing smoke coming from the south shore of Pickerel all the way over to at least the end of the lake...perhaps a 10-12 mile swath.

Good chance it got to (or close to) the north shore of Rawn.

Again, I hope I am wrong and this is definitely low-res imagery.

The FIRMS website this morning showed the fire had gone pretty much all along the south shore of Pickerel. That seems consistent with what you’re seeing, unfortunately.

EmmaMorgan: "The FIRMS website this morning showed the fire had gone pretty much all along the south shore of Pickerel. That seems consistent with what you’re seeing, unfortunately. "

It's about 5km from Dawson Campground to the east. It's hit Dore and close to Twin Lakes. Creeping further along Olifant. Fern north shore is toast. Same with Rawn.

Very depressing.

That was my September trip.

Just can't believe the whole southern shore of Pickerel is torched, along with the whole north shore of Rawn. Looks like Buckingham was spared, at least for the moment.

As horrible as the Olifaunt fire has become, did we get really lucky further south in Quetico? Doesn't look like any of those fires blew up yesterday.

Never mind. For whatever reason, the Ontario Forest Fire map isn't showing that those fires blew up. Now I've seen other maps that show they did. My optimism was apparently misplaced.

Perhaps a shred of optimism for Quetico - but not good news for Wabakimi...

If you look at the latest FIRMS map, which allows a "Timeline" view, there is no current red or orange heat activity in Quetico, indicating that heat signatures are all at least 6-12 hours old and there isn't new fire activity detected (at least via this satellite). This is not true for more northern areas such as Wabakimi where new fire activity is detected. Whether this is due to rain or other factors, I have no idea, but this site seems to show the fires have slowed - at least today.

Looks like some rain training over the area today.

just checked the ont gov fires site. the fire is almost 50000 hectares (about 120000 acres) as of their last update.
all of pickerel south shore
all of baptism and trousers
all of rawn, art and buckingham
all of bisk, beg, bud, fern
gone
extends south down to the northern tip of kawnipi and along its northeast shore
so devastating.
i am so grateful to have gone in the bchain for the first time this year. i wanted to bring the wife there as i thought it was such a special area.
we were also lucky enough to have stayed on rawn for the first time last year (fished in art as well) and had plans to return to see buckingham.

there is an even larger fire around lac des mille lac which is northeast of the park.

both of these are listed as out of control.

it was supposed to cool off here (and it is today) but fairly high temps will stick around a few more days. rain is predicted for the park area tomorrow and friday. lets just hope it comes in heavy and stays that way, without any added lightning.

Buckingham is my “Happy Place”. 14 trips there. Wrote most of my book there and the lyrics for our album. Was planning on one last solo trip there in September to work on another project. My heart hurts.

rick00001967: "just checked the ont gov fires site. the fire is almost 5000 hectares (about 12000 acres) as of their last update.
all of pickerel south shore
all of baptism and trousers
all of rawn, art and buckingham
all of bisk, beg, bud, fern
gone
extends south down to the northern tip of kawnipi and along its northeast shore
so devastating.
i am so grateful to have gone in the bchain for the first time this year. i wanted to bring the wife there as i thought it was such a special area.
we were also lucky enough to have stayed on rawn for the first time last year (fished in art as well) and had plans to return to see buckingham.


there is an even larger fire around lac des mille lac which is northeast of the park.


both of these are listed as out of control.


it was supposed to cool off here (and it is today) but fairly high temps will stick around a few more days. rain is predicted for the park area tomorrow and friday. lets just hope it comes in heavy and stays that way, without any added lightning.
"

It leaves me to wonder what will be left, Rick. What does the future of camping in Quetico look like?

Argo: "

rick00001967: "just checked the ont gov fires site. the fire is almost 5000 hectares (about 12000 acres) as of their last update.
all of pickerel south shore
all of baptism and trousers
all of rawn, art and buckingham
all of bisk, beg, bud, fern
gone
extends south down to the northern tip of kawnipi and along its northeast shore
so devastating.
i am so grateful to have gone in the bchain for the first time this year. i wanted to bring the wife there as i thought it was such a special area.
we were also lucky enough to have stayed on rawn for the first time last year (fished in art as well) and had plans to return to see buckingham.



there is an even larger fire around lac des mille lac which is northeast of the park.



both of these are listed as out of control.



it was supposed to cool off here (and it is today) but fairly high temps will stick around a few more days. rain is predicted for the park area tomorrow and friday. lets just hope it comes in heavy and stays that way, without any added lightning.
"

It leaves me to wonder what will be left, Rick. What does the future of camping in Quetico look like? "

well for me it might mean exploring new areas of the park i guess.

i frequently visit here as i live close by, and have done over 100 nights in the park in the past 4 years. all of those being along the northern edge of the park. french, pickerel, baptism, batch, nym, mcalpine, kasa, cirrus, lerome, rawn, art, and recently bisk down to fern.

but depending bad how things look in the burned areas after this craziness is over, i may start entering at beaverhouse more. i just did my first trip in there in May, just a day or two after ice out.

the wife and i also are planning to head into jesse for the first later this summer as well.

i typically do shorter trip so accessing the northern areas is the only routes that work for me. it is only recently i have been able to do a bit longer trips. but if that trend continues, and i am able to do some more 1 week trips or even work up to 2 weeks, there are plenty of areas left for me to see for the first time.

i am sure the first trip back on pickerel, if / when i can get to the west end, will hit pretty hard.

I was informed today, that the next update will be 7/25 and my reservation that started on the 23rd was cancelled. The burning of Art and Buckingham saddens me a great deal, as I left my brother's ashes in that little pond between Art and Buckingham. Such a beautiful spot.

Argo: "It leaves me to wonder what will be left, Rick. What does the future of camping in Quetico look like? "

The future of camping in Quetico will be just like it was before...exploration of landscapes.

I was just in Quetico from July 3 to July 11. I was on Montgomery Lake the night of July 6th to expirence the rain and thunder and lighting that has lead to all this distruction today. The picture below is looking northwest from Montgomery after the rain at about 9PM that night of July 6, towards the Oliphant Fire, when it was still young.

I am pretty certain that Montogomery campsite is now burned, gone, my favorite campsite in all of Quetico that I have stayed at, and possibly the last person to have every stayed there. The Crow's Nest of Montgomery is no more, along with the moose head that has been there for 10 plus years, and the bushcrash to the pictographs on Montogomery Creek (which I have had the privilage of seeing once) are probably going to be very difficult to get to now. I acknowledge that passing of these special places, and moments, is sad to me.

But, during my trip last week before this fire, I canoed through an area that had burned in 2021, and actually stopped at a campsite that I had stayed at more then 10 year previous. It was still there, burned over in 2021, but with the firepite right where I had moved it to. More then likely no one else had ever stayed there after me. It was surrounded by dead sticks. More importently though, the new growth, and new life, that was everywhere was astounding, and in so short of a time from the burn.

The exploration of the areas that have been burned is amazing. I saw flycatchers, plovers, and sandpipers, birds that arn't seen in a mature forest. Further down the trip, on Kashapiwi, I found an abundance of blueberries after a 10 year old fire. There was an undergrowth of birch and aspen that intitally happens being taken over by pine; it was like canoeing though a 10 year timewarp in an afternoon.

While I am sad to see the destruction of places I have been though and expirenced, like my quote listed below, mourn what has been lost, but look foward to the newness that will reveal itself to you if you welcome it.

@Minnesotian

You and I share the same feelings.
I went through all of this when we had the Pagami Creek fire. I lost my all time favorite campsite on a far away lake and when I went back to it several weeks after the fire it was like a moon scape. My campsite was obliterated. All that I could really recognize was one tree that made it at the edge of the water and the fire grate.

I return to that site every year. It now been 15 years and the campsite provides shade. 15’ and 20’ jack pine and birch. My campsite is coming back and this year was the first year I really felt like I could camp there and feel like it’s my old site. I have photographed it every year to see the change and rapid regrowth,

With that. We all grieve in different ways. And there is a lot of that to do. I paddled through Oilifaunt and camped on Fern This past June. It takes all my might to find serenity this morning as I look out over the blue air in Duluth.

In time, we will find a way through this but it is also hard to find a way out when we are still in the middle of this crisis.

The forests will return and I will return back to Quetico too.

Tom

Updated Ontario map:

sns: "Updated Ontario map:
"

It would appear these are aerial observations. I say that because the same map does not show the progression of the other fires - particularly down by Agnes. I can think of a number of reasons why that is - danger, voluminous smoke etcetera as well as maybe the aerial resources are simply overstretched.

The Olifaunt fire remains a present threat to the campgrounds and Highway 11. I've noticed the fire seems to have advanced in all directions but that one indicating that's where the firefighting assets are concentrating.

Awful to see this thing ripping south down into Kawnipi. We took the Baird-Keats-Shelley-Kawnipi Loop on July 8. We could see and smell the smoke pretty clearly, but never imaged it would rip through where we were just a week later. Really tough to see this thing growing. Those Oak trees by Snake falls may not make it. Such a unique feature in the middle of the park.

The south shore of Fern down to Alice (just south of Fern) and west to Chatterton lake burned in 2018. I’ll be curious to see the severity of the burn there. There were no mature trees in that area so crowning would not have been an issue. Still lots of deadfalls.
:(

tumblehome: "The south shore of Fern down to Alice (just south of Fern) and west to Chatterton lake burned in 2018. I’ll be curious to see the severity of the burn there. There were no mature trees in that area so crowning would not have been an issue. Still lots of deadfalls.
:(

"

Been wondering about that - multiple spots with young growth seem to have been engulfed.

Perhaps if it's dry enough, hot enough and windy enough it all becomes fuel.

sns: "

tumblehome: "The south shore of Fern down to Alice (just south of Fern) and west to Chatterton lake burned in 2018. I’ll be curious to see the severity of the burn there. There were no mature trees in that area so crowning would not have been an issue. Still lots of deadfalls.
:(


"

Been wondering about that - multiple spots with young growth seem to have been engulfed.


Perhaps if it's dry enough, hot enough and windy enough it all becomes fuel."

Whatever ripped through there Monday and Tuesday when the wind and heat were really pushing the fire will be in peril. That said, we have seen areas of fires spared and I hope at least something made it.
Goddammit if that island site on Fern is gone. Might as well just kill me now.

I have seen fresh areas burned get burned again a few years later so it does happen.
Sounds like a recon after this BS is over to see if we have ground left to camp on.
I sure feel for the wildlife that didn't escape. Swans, critters, moose.
I have also found life after this when I didn't expect to see it
Tom

sns: "

tumblehome: "The south shore of Fern down to Alice (just south of Fern) and west to Chatterton lake burned in 2018. I’ll be curious to see the severity of the burn there. There were no mature trees in that area so crowning would not have been an issue. Still lots of deadfalls.
:(

"

Been wondering about that - multiple spots with young growth seem to have been engulfed.

Perhaps if it's dry enough, hot enough and windy enough it all becomes fuel."

This is bringing back memories of Woodland Caribou PP from 2016 to 2021 when 55% of it burned - much of it multiple times. Yes, burned areas with zero mature growth will definitely burn again, sometimes only rock and ash remains. I do appreciate all the people saying how "it will grow back" and "this is the lifecycle of the boreal". They are 100% correct.

Selfishly, however, the human lifespan is only so long and for many of us (me included), these areas will not recover before we get to enjoy it again. It is what it is. Nature doesn't owe us a shaded portage trail or campsite.

(Obviously I am much less apathetic towards folks losing their homes, livelihoods, communities etc. :( These comments only apply to us recreationists. #firstworldproblems)

I think we are all grieving for places that we think are lost to us. Destroyed. Gone.

I've been involved in prescribed burning and wildfire suppression my entire career as a biologist and conservationist. These fires change things, but I will not use words like Destroyed or Gone. I was actually gonna go to Montgomery this coming week and camp on that island site if it wasn't occupied. Then I was going to go in at Beaverhouse instead. Now I may go somewhere else...

From an ecological perspective, this in many ways is overdue and welcome. My first visit to the boreal didn't have any burned areas (BWCA). The second was around Seagull and Alpine in the BWCA which torched in the Pagami fire I think. It was an excellent trip, with great company, with great fishing. The burn was there in places, but it was what it was. We went to Quetico for many years, then tried Woodland Caribou. WCPP has a fire history much more severe than Quetico. We camped on bare rock sometimes. There were virtually no red or white pine, just jack pine and spruce. Areas that didn't burn looked like they needed it, to me. The park has burned over since, and I'm going back. I share the grief of "loss" over campsites. But new ones will emerge. Give it a few years and find new places to go in the meantime.

When I visited Wabakimi, there was some evidence of burns. But overall, it looked to me that it was a tinderbox overdue for a fire. I guess that is happening now.

best advice is to switch to tripping earlier in the spring and later in the fall, when shade isn't that important!

Life begins anew after a burn.

Joe

This photo from the 14th is striking.

joewildlife: "I think we are all grieving for places that we think are lost to us. Destroyed. Gone.


I've been involved in prescribed burning and wildfire suppression my entire career as a biologist and conservationist. These fires change things, but I will not use words like Destroyed or Gone. I was actually gonna go to Montgomery this coming week and camp on that island site if it wasn't occupied. Then I was going to go in at Beaverhouse instead. Now I may go somewhere else...


From an ecological perspective, this in many ways is overdue and welcome. My first visit to the boreal didn't have any burned areas (BWCA). The second was around Seagull and Alpine in the BWCA which torched in the Pagami fire I think. It was an excellent trip, with great company, with great fishing. The burn was there in places, but it was what it was. We went to Quetico for many years, then tried Woodland Caribou. WCPP has a fire history much more severe than Quetico. We camped on bare rock sometimes. There were virtually no red or white pine, just jack pine and spruce. Areas that didn't burn looked like they needed it, to me. The park has burned over since, and I'm going back. I share the grief of "loss" over campsites. But new ones will emerge. Give it a few years and find new places to go in the meantime.


When I visited Wabakimi, there was some evidence of burns. But overall, it looked to me that it was a tinderbox overdue for a fire. I guess that is happening now.


best advice is to switch to tripping earlier in the spring and later in the fall, when shade isn't that important!


Life begins anew after a burn.


Joe
"

Well said.