THUNDER BAY — The historic Thunder Bay 36 wildfire cost Bruce Hyer’s outfitting and lodge business $4 million, most of it not covered by insurance, but he’s aiming to have his Wabakimi operation going full-tilt by 2028.
“We lost more than anybody,” Hyer said in a phone interview this week, recalling the July-August mega-fire that scorched more than 300,000 hectares and forced evacuations.
The lost assets had a book value of about $4 million but were “probably worth more than that,” he said, “and we were insured for $1.9 million.”
Wabakimi Fishing & Canoeing Outfitters, a short drive from Armstrong, lost its main lodge, a sauna, about 60 canoes, 30 boats and motors, “all the buildings at the lodge” and much more to the inferno in mid-July, Hyer said.
Beyond the dollar value of all that was loss, he added, there was the emotional hit of losing the products of 50 years spent building the outdoorsmen’s getaway.
“Despite all that, I’m personally doing fairly well. It is what it is, and we are going to rebuild.”
Hyer said the outfitters business was back in operation on a smaller scale by mid-August, and he expects more will be available to customers next year and then full-scale operations in 2028.
The fire eventually labelled Thunder Bay 36, after merging with other forest fires, exceeded 315,000 hectares (780,000 acres) by July 22.
Armstrong and the adjacent Whitesand First Nation evacuated on July 13-14 as the fire threatened the communities.
Residents of remote Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, also called Collins First Nation, fled the fire on July 13 as the fire swept in and wrought great destruction.
The blaze also destroyed houses and other structures in the Whitewater Lake First Nation community north of Whitesand.
Hyer said the “incompetent, uncaring and deceptive” Ministry of Natural Resources performed poorly as the fire intensified and spread.
A Wabakimi staff member was alerted to the fire heading their way by a friend’s late-night phone call, not the MNR, Hyer said.
“If they hadn’t gotten that phone call,” Hyer said, “a bunch of clients and three staff would now probably be dead.”
The ministry, for its part, told Newswatch in an email that the province “is sparing no expense to keep people safe from wildland fires.”
“We are investing more than $20 million to modernize two critical wildland fire management facilities in Northwestern Ontario: the Vedette Forward Attack Base near Fort Frances and the Socket Lake Forward Attack Base near Sioux Lookout,” wrote Dave Bradley, a spokesperson in Natural Resources Minister Mike Harris’s office.
“Construction is underway, with both facilities expected to be operational for the 2027 fire season.
“We are also spending a historic $650 million to strengthen our firefighting air fleet through the procurement of six new DHC-515 waterbombers and five new helicopters.”
Harris said in a video report last week that coordination between his ministry’s Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services branch and local responders “ensured a rapid response that kept everyone safe” during the 2026 forest fire season.
