On May 1, 2016, a wildfire began southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. On May 3, it swept through the community, forcing the largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta's history, with upwards of 88,000 people forced from their homes. Firefighters were assisted by personnel from both the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as other Canadian provincial agencies, to fight the wildfire. Aid for evacuees was provided by various governments and via donations through the Canadian Red Cross and other local and national charitable organizations.

Sweeping through Fort McMurray, the wildfire destroyed approximately 2,400 homes and buildings. Another 2,000 residents in three communities were displaced after their homes were declared unsafe for reoccupation due to contamination. The fire continued to spread across northern Alberta and into Saskatchewan, consuming forested areas and impacting Athabasca oil sands operations. With an estimated damage cost of C$9.9 billion (US$7.61 billion), it was the costliest disaster in Canadian history.

The fire spread across approximately 590,000 ha (1,500,000 acres) before it was declared to be under control on July 5, 2016. It continued to smoulder, and was fully extinguished on August 2, 2017. It is suspected to have been caused by humans in a remote area 15 km (9.3 mi) from Fort McMurray, but no official cause has been determined to date. Author John Vaillant documented a detailed account of the fire, its progression, and aftermath within the context of global warming in his best-seller book Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World.

The fire was first reported by a helicopter forestry crew in a remote area 15 km (9.3 mi) from Fort McMurray on May 1, 2016. First responders arrived 45 minutes later. An official cause of the fire has not been determined, but it was suspected to be human caused. During the start of the fire, an unusually hot, dry air mass was in place over Northern Alberta, which brought record-setting temperatures to Fort McMurray. On May 3, the temperature climbed to 32.8 °C (91 °F), accompanied by relative humidity as low as 12%. The situation intensified on May 4 when temperatures reached 31.9 °C (89 °F) and winds gusted to 72 km/h (45 mph). A natural El Niño cycle also led to a dry fall and winter season along with a warm spring, leaving a paltry snowpack, which melted quickly. Combined with the high temperatures, this created a "perfect storm" of conditions for an explosive wildfire, and significantly contributed to the fire's rapid growth.

Climate change was also cited as a potential contributor to the start and spread of the fire. Debate occurred as to whether it was "insensitive" to discuss it during the crisis, or whether the crisis made it "more important" to talk about a correlation between human-influenced climate change and wildfires. Canada's politicians and scientists both cautioned that individual fires cannot specifically be linked to climate change, but agree that it is part of a general trend of more intense wildfires.

As the fire spread towards settlements in Fort McMurray, a local state of emergency was declared on May 1 at 9:57 p.m. MDT (03:57 UTC May 2) with the Centennial Trailer Park and the neighborhoods of Prairie Creek and Gregoire under a mandatory evacuation. The evacuation orders for the two neighborhoods were reduced to a voluntary stay-in-place order by the night of May 2 as the fire moved southwest and away from the area. The mandatory evacuation order was reinstated and expanded to 12 neighbourhoods on May 3 at 5:00 p.m. (23:00 UTC), and to the entirety of Fort McMurray by 6:49 p.m. (00:49 UTC May 4). A further order covering the nearby communities of Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates, and Fort McMurray First Nation was issued at 9:50 p.m. on May 4 (03:50 UTC May 5). It has been reported that 88,000 people were successfully evacuated, with no reported fatalities or injuries, but two people, Aaron Hodgson and Emily Ryan, were killed in a vehicular collision during the evacuation, one of whom was the daughter of a firefighter. Despite the mandatory evacuation order, staff at the water treatment plant remained in Fort McMurray to provide firefighters with water.

On May 4, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo reported the communities of Beacon Hill, Abasand and Waterways had suffered "serious loss". The Government of Alberta declared a provincial state of emergency, and said 1,600 buildings had been destroyed by the fires. It was estimated that 10,000 ha (25,000 acres) of land had been burned. Evacuees who travelled north of Fort McMurray were advised to stay where they were, and not to come south on Highway 63 as the fire was still burning out of control. A boil-water advisory was issued for the entire area just after 11 a.m. (17:00 UTC). At 4:05 p.m., (22:05 UTC) the fire crossed Highway 63 at Airport Road (formerly Highway 69), south of Fort McMurray, and threatened the international airport, which had suspended commercial operations earlier in the day. The fire also forced the re-location of the Regional Emergency Operations Centre, which was originally in the vicinity of the airport. On May 4, the fire was found to be producing lightning and pyrocumulus clouds due to its heat and large size, which added to the risk of more fires. The fires became large enough to create a firestorm, creating its own weather in the form of wind influxes and lightning.

The fire continued to spread south on May 5 across 85,000 ha (210,000 acres) and forcing additional evacuations in the communities of Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and the Fort McMurray First Nation. These communities had accepted over 8,000 people during the initial evacuations. The Government of Alberta announced a plan to airlift approximately 8,000 of 25,000 people who had evacuated to oil sands work camps north of Fort McMurray, with assistance from a Royal Canadian Air Force Hercules aircraft, and other planes owned by energy companies operating in the oil sands. 1,110 personnel, 145 helicopters, 138 pieces of heavy equipment and 22 air tankers were employed to fight the fire.