Arson caused Slave Lake fire: Gov’t
Posted November 1, 2011 10:36 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
EDMONTON (NEWS1130) – The Alberta government says arson was behind a wildfire that ravaged the town of Slave Lake this past spring. Sustainable Resource Development Minister Frank Oberle says the province’s files have been turned over to the RCMP.
He says that it’s up to Mounties whether a criminal investigation is needed. The provincial investigation took five months.
About one-third of Slave Lake was destroyed by the 4,700 hectare blaze in May. More than 400 homes and buildings were leveled at an estimated cost of more than $700 million.
The fire was the second most costly insured disaster in Canadian history, behind the Quebec ice storm in 1998.
