| Comments | Persistent drought conditions had been recorded in northwestern Alberta since July of 2018 and were ideal for wildfire. On May 11th, the Chuckegg Creek wildfire was discovered by a lookout and was most likely initiated the evening before by a lightning strike. In the late afternoon of May 17th, high winds fanned the fire and it was declared out of control. The fire grew from 23 km2 (2,300 ha) to over 714 km2 (71,400 ha) between May 17th and 20th. As a result, over 3,000 residents of Mackenzie County, the Town of High Level and the Dene Tha' First Nation were evacuated; residents of Keg River and Carcajou were also evacuated. They were able to return home between June 2nd and 5th. The fire led to more evacuations in June and included the Hamlet of La Crete, Beaver First Nation and the community of Blue Hills. On May 31st, the Province of Alberta requested federal assistance. The Chuckegg Creek wildfire fire was deemed out of control for 98 days and burned a total of 3,501 km2 (350,135 ha). It was declared under control on August 18th. The Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement and the Thompkins Landing/Blue Hills areas were impacted by the wildfire. In Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement, for example, there was both physical and cultural impacts including 16 homes that were destroyed and significant loss to several traditional medicine gathering sites. Two other major fires occurred in northern Alberta during that season - the McMillian and Battle fires - in total roughly 20 communities (15,000 individuals) were affected by evacuations. |