Lotto luck shines for another Albertan who lost Fort McMurray home

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

After exclaiming disbelief that the call was actually real, Marchand said that he’d lost his home last year in Fort McMurray.

Two & Out

PETERS: Floor-crossing in Ottawa is stinky, but it's not going anywhere

Apr 10, 2026

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: A healthier Kamloops starts with financial empowerment

Apr 08, 2026

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: Strengthening primary care access for a growing British Columbia

Apr 08, 2026

Chris Flett, who lost his home in the Fort McMurray wildfire in May 2016, also came up a winner late last year, taking home more than $400,000 in a Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation lottery.

The Full House Lottery supports the Royal Alexandra and University Hospital organizations in Edmonton.

“This is real, right?” Marchand can be heard saying over a speaker phone.

“You know, I lost my home in Fort McMurray, so this is amazing.” 

The revelation clearly surprised the hospital foundation representative.

“Oh my goodness,” she replied.

The car and condo are worth $656,873.

The fire, nicknamed “the beast”, began burning deep in the bush about May 1 and spread into the northern Alberta city on May 3, forcing 88,000 people from their homes for a month or more.

In all, almost 2,600 dwellings were destroyed.

The Canadian Press