Slave Lake fire likely caused by arson: Alberta government

Officials believe the Slave Lake fires were caused by arson, based on Alberta’s investigation.
On May 14 the community of Slave Lake, Alta was gutted by a wildfire, resulting in more than $700 million in damages – the second costliest insured loss in Canadian history. It destroyed 4,700 hectares and about 400 structures and forced the evacuation of 7,000 residents.
“Our investigation into the origin of that fire ruled out everything but arson as a probable cause,” Frank Oberle, Alberta’s Sustainable Resource Development minister, said in a release.
“As a result, we have delivered our findings to the RCMP to determine if a criminal investigation is the next step.”
SRD identifies the cause of all wildfires that occur in the province’s Forest Protection Area (FPA) and investigates those believed to result from human activity.
The investigation of the cause of the Slave Lake wildfire took five months to complete and involved extensive onsite and offsite work to gather evidence according to internationally accepted standards for wildfire investigations, the release says.
“Our investigation took the time required to protect, collect, analyze and document evidence to the rigorous standards required fro presentation in a court of law,” Oberle continued.
According to the release, about half of the 1,600 wildfires that typically ignite in the FPA each year are caused by lightening strikes; the other half arise from human actions such as unattended campfires, debris burning and industrial activity like gas flaring or slash burning.