Wildfire personnel continue to fight two aggressive fires burning near the Jasper townsite. 

High winds and continued hot, dry weather in the last 24 hours have pushed a 10,000 hectare wildfire burning south of the Jasper townsite closer to town but fire specialists are hopeful a turn in the weather this evening (July 24) will allow them to get a handle on the threatening blaze.

“We anticipate if we receive the expected precipitation we will see a reduction in fire activity, however rain doesn’t count until it’s on the ground,” said Incident Commander, section chief and fire management officer, Katie Ellsworth. 

She added that the rain event forecasted for tonight won’t be enough to control the wildfires, which are still listed as out of control. As such, residents and visitors will not yet be allowed to return to the community or park.

“Currently it is not safe for you to return to town,” Ellsworth said. She added a timeline for re-entry will be provided as soon as officials are able.

“All of our efforts are focused on controlling further fire spread and protecting our community,” she said.

Excavator and bulldozer teams are currently strategizing the best place to install a containment line against the south fire—effectively a wide trench, dug down beyond the forest’s flammable, organic floor—to guard against spot fires that can start from ember dispersement.

“We want to be very strategic of where these lines go,” Ellsworth said.

The south fire spread about four kilometres since yesterday afternoon and is approximately 8 kms from Jasper, and about 2.5 kms away from the popular Valley of the Five Lakes hiking trail.

Meanwhile, a fire that started nine kilometres northeast of Jasper is now only 5 kms from the townsite, and burning on both sides of Highway 16. 

Some infrastructure, including Parks Canada’s Palisades Education and Stewardship Centre, has been impacted, but Ellsworth said due to extensive smoke, her team cannot yet confirm the extent of the impact to that or other assets. The same applies to assets along the Icefields Parkway and adjacent Highway 93A, she said: Parks Canada facilities such as campgrounds, day-use areas and washrooms, as well as power lines, have potentially been damaged, but officials don’t want to broadcast any information until they can get eyes on the infrastructure. 

“We’re hoping with the downtrend coming we’re going to see a reduction in smoke and fire behaviour and we’ll be able to share more accurate estimates,” she said.

Ellsworth addressed the concern that has stemmed from members of the public interpreting publicly-available satellite imagery from websites such as the Satellite (MODIS) Thermal Hotspot or FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System) database. She cautioned against relying on these tools for the most accurate information.

“We know the public is educated about wildfire and has many tools to see the extent of the fire growth, but at this time we cannot confirm the MODIS or FIRM images you can see if you’re looking at the satellite imagery,” she said.

After a very active fire day, Ellsworth said, it is possible that heat signatures are inaccurately detected.

“Smoke columns collapse on themselves and spread heat over the landscape,” she said. “It’s not uncommon for that heat to sink back down to the surface and be registered as a fire point.” 

Approximately 260 wildfire-related personnel are fighting the north and south fires, including teams from Alberta Wildfire and other communities across Canada. In his address, Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland recognized the dozens of non-essential workers who are supporting those first responders—the hotel staff who are providing accommodations for incoming and existing personnel, municipal workers dealing with infrastructure needs and food providers, including Glenda MacDowell, who has kept her concession at the Jasper Activity Centre open to provide food for those who need it.

“This is a select, small number of critical people staying in the community, doing the work that needs to be done,” Ireland said. “This truly is a daunting experience and yet they stay to help.”

Some of the personnel being nourished by Glenda The Great Catering are the structural protection teams. Along with setting up 12-inch sprinklers around the perimeter of the community and on the Pyramid Bench, these crews are going neighbourhood-to-neighbourhood, applying FireSmart principles to remove brush, propane tanks and other combustibles from around people’s homes. Ellsworth said the plan is for teams to monitor the townsite for any potential spotting from far-flung embers.

“Crews are ready to respond should the fires begin to spot into town today,” she said, adding that all critical infrastructure, including Jasper’s water treatment plan, the waste water treatment facility, back-up generators, Parks Canada’s 911 dispatch centre and all locations housing incident staff, have been protected with sprinkler systems.

Along with the 260 personnel, assigned to the fire are four bulldozers, two water tankers, one excavator, 13 fire trucks, nine aircraft and one off-road water supply. CN Rail is using its rail-based water tanker to extinguish spot fires where it’s able.

“They’re using that to cool down some of the heat along the tracks so that CN is able to resume their operations today.”

Backcountry evacuations continue today. Yesterday Parks Canada had confirmed about 245 people who had been camping or hiking in Jasper’s remote wilderness had been picked up or contacted. Lower-priority evacuations on trails away from the wildfire such as the Brazeau and North and South Boundary Trails are currently underway.

“All SOS calls and family inquires have been investigated,” Ellsworth said. 

Weather will be the main determining factor in how the fire crews will be able to fight the wildfires. The high pressure system which has dominated western Canada over the past few weeks is expected to subside by tonight; before then, however, high-winds are expected this afternoon. 

“By Thursday and Friday we’re hoping for more seasonal weather which will reduce overall fire behaviour,” Ellsworth said.

Compared to the 6,300 hectare Chetamon Mountain wildfire in September of 2022, the south fire is significantly larger and more aggressive, Ellsworth said.

“The difference between this one and the Chetamon fire is this one is much closer to the community,” she said.

Another update is planned for this evening. Stay tuned to The Jasper Local as well as the social media accounts of Jasper National Park and the Municipality of Jasper for the latest, most up-to-date and accurate information.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com