Last updated October 15, 2021
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Fort McMurray Fire 2016

Canada

An extremely dry winter coupled with unseasonably hot weather fueled a widely destructive wildfire in Fort McMurray, Canada—the most expensive disaster for insurers in Canadian history with losses expected to total $3.58 billion. The fire burned 1,456,810 acres (589,552 hectares), including part of Saskatchewan, and led to Alberta's largest ever fire-related evacuation as the more than 88,000 residents of Fort McMurray were forced to flee. This is also the first time in the continent's history that a city of more than 60,000 residents was forced to evacuate a wildfire. The Fort McMurray fire is part of a continuing trend where climate change has made Canada’s annual fire season longer and more severe over the past few decades.

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