Photo from the Town of High Level website

By Emily Keller

chuckegg wildfire

Mackenzie Crossroads Museum opens exhibit chronicling the Chuckegg Creek Wildfire

May 21, 2020 | 7:04 AM

The Mackenzie Crossroads Museum and Visitor Centre in High Level has opened an exhibit on the 2019 Chuckegg Creek Wildfire.

Kayla Wardley, Museum and Tourism Leader for the Town of High Level says that the exhibit has brought together photos and artifacts on the wildfire.

“To kind of, bring to life what last year was like for so many people, and to kind of praise the people that were here, whether that was firefighters or EOC (emergency operations centre) workers, or people running evacuation centres, just kind of bring it all together as a thank you to everyone that was part of it.”

Wardley says they had originally intended to throw an event remembering the wildfire and evacuation that would resemble a street fair, but that due to the current pandemic, they had to cancel.

“Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we can’t do that, which was really sad that we weren’t able to because this is such a large event that happened for our region and so many were affected that we wanted something, I guess fun, to come out of this.”

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She says she believes that on the days leading up to the anniversary, which was May 20, residents and the community may have been anxious remembering what had occurred.

“Last year, it was so traumatic for so many people, and kind of just waiting to see like, ‘Oh, is this going to happen again?’ you know, ‘What is this weekend going to bring for everybody?’, and I think there is a lot of people still struggling because it was so traumatic and so many have never gone through an event like this before.”

The Museum is currently closed to the public, but a video tour of the exhibit with the Mayor of High Level, Crystal McAteer, was released on May 20 at 4 p.m., a significant time as Wardley says that was when the original press release was sent out last year.

Photos and more information on the exhibit can be found at the Town’s website.