At over one million hectares burned, 2017 was the territory’s seventh worst year for forest fires since the NWT began keeping records in 1975, according to Environment Minister Robert C. McLeod. Of 249 fires this year, 17 are suspected to have been human-caused. It was the first year the NWT deployed its new 802 Fire Boss tanker aircraft and 378 extra fire fighters were hired across the territories to train or assist the core group of 136 forest fire fighters.