For the most up-to-date information on the wildfire and for information and resources for evacuees, visit the Municipality of Jasper’s website and the social media channels of the MOJ and Jasper National Park.
Jasperites are feeling a mixture of devastation and relief as recent images of their beloved town show a community ravaged by wildfire, but still standing.
A total of 358 structures—including houses, apartment buildings and in some cases entire neighbourhoods, as well as commercial buildings—in the town of 4,700 residents have been lost in a July 24 wildfire that was sparked by lightning on July 22.
The largest fire in Jasper National Park’s recorded history barrelled through the Athabasca River Valley south of Jasper, impinging on the community’s southern edge on the evening of July 24. After calling for a town and park-wide evacuation at 10 p.m. on July 22 and moving 25,000 people out of the community, a dozen hotels and several maxed-out campgrounds, on July 23 emergency officials watched the wildfire explode up the valley on both sides of the river, gaining momentum on violent gusts of wind.
On the afternoon of July 24, with the fire spreading closer to the townsite, the inferno—which started as three fires and quickly moved into one—ran five kilometres in one hour, officials said, raining embers ahead of it and evaporating any hope of a last stand by hundreds of fire fighting personnel and heavy equipment that had been brought in as fast as incident commanders could call for it.
“This was a very, very intense fire that happened under severely dry conditions,” said Parks Canada Deputy Incident Commander Landon Shepherd.
And yet despite a one hundred metre wall of flames being blown into the evacuated community by winds that reached 125 kms/hour, all critical infrastructure remains intact. Schools, the Seton Healthcare Centre, the town’s water and wastewater treatment plants, the library with attached council chambers, and the firehall are still standing. The under-renovation Jasper Activity Centre, the attached arena and early education centre, the Parks Canada Information Centre, the Canada Post Office and the Jasper museum were spared, too.
But hundreds of homes were not.
On July 26, along with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, top ministers and Parks Canada officials, Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland toured the community to get an on-the-ground sense of the devastation. The convoy made their way though the town while around them, hundreds of firefighting and logistics personnel continued to protect structures, attend to spot fires, move fallen branches and debris, reinstate utility lines and secure hazardous sites. When the group of officials reached the Turret Street lot where Ireland lived with his wife—where the 69-year-old raised his children and where he himself grew up—there was nothing left but a smouldering foundation.
“Somewhere in there is a photograph of me with a birthday cake, sitting on packing boxes when I was two,” he told reporters, fighting back emotion.
Ireland also told media members that he knew he was experiencing what hundreds of others of his fellow residents will soon be feeling.
“Some of our residents will have homes to return to. Some will not,” Ireland said. “It is beyond comprehension.”
On July 27 the MOJ released a map and downloadable spreadsheet indicating, street by street, the extent of the wildfire damage so that residents can have a better idea of what they might expect when they eventually return to the townsite—a timeline for which has not been given.
“Many of you will have your worst fears confirmed today,” said Christine Nadon, Incident Commander with the MOJ.
Nadon, who lost her own home in the fire, said that vast proportion of the community is affected—whether you have a home standing or not. She encouraged Jasperites to reach out to health professionals. The MOJ has on its website a list of mental health resources.
“Survivor’s guilt is a thing,” Nadon said. “Why is my house here and yours isn’t?”
After his tour, in which he saw personally the randomness with which fire engulfed some homes but not others, Ireland encouraged residents not to dwell on the why and how.
“Let’s just move forward with what we’ve got, together,” he said.
However, before officials can begin to action a plan for residents’ re-entry, they still have an unprecedented wildfire to deal with. As Shepherd and Nadon explained while standing outside the wildfire command centre in Hinton—relocated 90 kms east after the July 24 impingement of flames forced all personnel excepting structural protection crews to flee—the 32,000 ha fire is still burning out-of-control.
Shepherd said despite receiving 12 millimetres of rain in the last 36 hours, which helped firefighters get directly onto the fire line in many critical areas, it could be weeks before the fire is considered “being held.”
“We expect to be working on this wildfire over the next three months at least,” Shepherd said.
The north wildfire—which was reported only 30 minutes before the south fires on July 22—still poses a threat to the community, too. Taken together, the two fires—plus the Utopia Mountain fire in the east end of Jasper National Park—make up the Jasper Wildfire Complex. Expected hotter, drier conditions in the coming days will make getting a handle on all those fronts more challenging, Shepherd said, and structural protection sprinklers are being relocated, from previously burned areas to the active fire perimeter adjacent to the community and outlying structures. This includes more structural protection sprinklers being installed at Lake Edith and businesses north of the town of Jasper.
“Some areas, which did not receive rain, may see an increase in fire behaviour in the coming days,” Parks Canada’s statement said.
And then there will be the clean-up and hazard mitigation within the townsite: debris removal, capping gas lines, fencing every hazardous lot, flushing ash-clogged sewer lines and the assessment of damaged roads and bridges. The tasks are so monumental, and the wildfire situation so dynamic, that there is currently no scheduled timeline for residents’ re-entry.
“The townsite is still unsafe,” Nadon said.
When it is safe to return, Ireland has pledged to be there.
“I know this will be the darkest week in our community’s history; I am confident that together we will see brighter days are ahead,” he said.
“If there are homes for some, there is community for all.”
Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com
The Alberta Government is hosting a Telephone Online town hall for Albertans who have been evacuated, to receive updates on the wildfire situation and answers to their questions.
The Telephone Online town hall will take place Monday, July 29 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
To participate, phone: 1-833-380-0691 or visit online here. If you are not able to join, a recording will be available after the event..
The Caring Community Fund is taking donations for the community.
The CCF operates under the Jasper Community Team Society, a registered charitable organization since 2004.
With the assistance of the Outreach Workers, the CCF will help assist Jasper locals in these trying times.
To donate visit the Jasper Community Team Society’s webpage.
