ET), 24,511 Albertans were evacuated from homes with 103 active wildfires across the province, burning 121,909 hectares.
"I don't know that I ever recall seeing multiple communities evacuated all at once in fire season," said Smith.
So far this year, there have been 43,000 hectares burned from wildfires, Smith said.
"It is very unusual for us to see this much fire activity this early in the season," said Christie Tucker, an information unit manager for Alberta Wildfire.
"This is a much much busier than average wildfire season so far."