| Comments | On June 2nd, a wildfire (the Whisp fire) was reported north of Fort John near Whispering Pines Lake, BC. After an inspection, it was decided to let the 80 ha fire burn freely. According to the policy at the time, fire crews were not allowed to suppress fires until they were within a certain distance of a road, community or major river. Even though local Metis trappers volunteered to help suppress the fire as it moved towards and into Alberta, fire crews were ordered not to go. A second fire began on July 29th, and eventually joined the Whisp fire between September 20 and 22nd. By this time, there were over 30 fires greater than 200 ha burning along the northern borders of BC and Alberta; the newly-merged Chinchaga fire spread 63 km. The smoke plume drifted from northern Alberta to southern Ontario which caused high mid-day electricity demand to turn on the lights and subsequently led to several power outages. The Whisp/Chinchaga fires burned 1.4 million ha (14,000 km2) and was recorded as the largest wildfire in North American history. The majority of the burned area was in Alberta; only 90,000 ha were in BC. |