Fire “close to being held” around townsite; emergency services beginning to come on-line
As critical retail and emergency services in the fire-ravaged community of Jasper take initial steps to restart, fire fighters working the Jasper Wildfire Complex are feeling increasingly confident that the wildfire is unlikely to further affect the townsite.
But as the 34,000 ha. fire continues to burn out of control on several fronts, officials know the longer-term wildfire prognosis is “less-rosy.”
“We’re expecting the fire season to extend like it has in the past five seasons to early November,” said Landon Shepherd, deputy incident commander for Parks Canada.
“We’re geared up and braced that we might be dealing with wildfire for as long as that.”
Yesterday (August 5), stakeholders with Jasper operations deemed critical (ex. hospital, pharmacy services) were allowed into the Jasper townsite to assess what resources they might need and estimate how long it would take them to re-boot.
“Things are happening very fast,” said Parks Canada liaison officer Steve Blake. “Every step we make as a milestone, we’re preparing for the next step.”
The first residents who lost homes were also bussed to the Jasper townsite Monday for a visit. And for the first time since the July 22 evacuation, on Monday, evacuees in Valemount needing to return to Alberta were shuttled through on Highway 16 from Tete Jaune Cache, B.C. to Hinton.
“[But] there is no estimate for [non-commercial] through-traffic,” Blake said on August 5 (Monday).
That same day, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at the mobile incident command centre in Hinton, from where incident staff are actioning the wildfire and the re-entry process.
Trudeau shook hands with wildfire officials and military personnel and participated in a moment of silence to honour a firefighter who lost his life fighting the fire August 4.
The 24-year-old Calgary man was based out of the Rocky Mountain House firebase. He was hit by a falling tree while fighting the blaze northeast of Jasper, RCMP reported.
“We are profoundly saddened by the tragic loss of an Alberta Wildland firefighter who gave [his] life to protect our community,” Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said in a statement. “This dedicated person travelled to Jasper to help us, to help protect our town and our home. Our hearts ache for their family, their loved ones and their comrades.”
Trudeau echoed the sentiments, saying he is heartbroken by the news.
“He served Albertans with bravery and his loss is deeply felt,” Trudeau said via X on Saturday.
Blake said having the province and the federal government’s top officials standing shoulder to shoulder with incident command staff is a good sign for the eventual Jasper rebuild.
“It’s very important we have the leadership of the province and the nation by our side,” Blake said.
In an August 5 stakeholder update, Blake reiterated that the evacuation order and the closure of Jasper National Park are still in effect.
“Unilateral entry into the area is still not permitted,” he said.
The Jasper Unified Command Centre has issued re-entry criteria so members of the public can understand what conditions need to be met before re-entry begins.
First on the list is Parks Canada must confirm that the wildfire is no longer an imminent threat to the townsite. That goal is close to being accomplished, Shepherd said on Tuesday, but not yet complete. Fire crews have, for the most part, secured the fire around the townsite and important facilities in adjacent areas, including the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.
“We’re feeling increasingly good about securing those,” he said.
The wildfire is still out of control on its north and south flanks, however. On August 6 it was near Two Valley Canyon, in the north end of the Maligne Valley, Shepherd said, while in the south, it was burning near Kerkeslin Campground. Neither Maligne Lake assets nor the Marmot Basin leasehold are threatened at this time.
“The unified team definitely recognizes the significant importance of Marmot Basin to the community, and to the economic recovery of the community,” Shepherd commented. “It’s definitely a place where we will continue to put significant effort.”
Shepherd said that fire officials use a 15 km buffer between the wildfire and any values at-risk—less distance than that, and the IC team reassesses their strategy for protecting those values, Shepherd said.
“If the fire approaches within 15kms of values at risk we do a re-evaluation.”
The 30 km-plus wide wildfire complex received an average of about 10 mm of precipitation in the last two days—enough to help crews put out fires on smaller fuels, but not enough to penetrate larger fuels like trees and roots in the ground.
“Our concern is the fire carries over through these light rain events then puffs back up when conditions dry out, enabling it to spot across the fire line,” Shepherd said.
Drought-like conditions experienced in Jasper National Park since the early spring set up the extreme fire conditions leading to the July 22 lightening storm which precipitated the initial south fires. Extremely hot, dry weather combined with a ferocious wind storm blew the initial fire up into the 300-metre tall, kilometres-wide inferno which impinged the townsite July 24.
More than 850 personnel are currently signed up on the incident, either fighting the fire or responding to the townsite re-entry, Shepherd said.
Crews are working to remove debris from downed buildings; and re-establishing electricity, natural gas, water, healthcare, internet and phone services. Progress continues on hazard mitigation and debris removal on private properties, the Municipality of Jasper reported at 3 p.m. August 6.
Re-entry efforts are multi-pronged; much of the energy continues to be securing damaged areas.
“[Crews are] making sure there’s no fumes, no asbestos dust, making sure there’s no chimneys falling off of property into public spaces…there’s still a heap of work happening there,” Blake said.
On Highway 16, scheduled, limited openings for commercial traffic allow trucks to get through. When the commercial traffic window closes, fire fighting equipment and personnel can then move uninhibited, deputy incident commander Dean MacDonald explained.
“The reason we have these gaps is to allow our fire operations personnel to get to the line, get to the operation,” he said.
On August 3 Jasper Fire Chief Mathew Conte told media members utility crews were ensuring fire hydrants were flushed and pressurized and water is potable. The system was back up and running on all homes north of the fire break that was established in Jasper (which is approximately at Maligne Avenue).
“We are continuing to isolate for damaged areas of the water line on the south end of town,” Conte said.
Next week occupational hygienists will arrive in Jasper to ensure that air quality is acceptable in all critical facilities.
The fire and associated winds caused significant damage to trees—hazard tree removal was 90 percent complete on August 3; chipping and debris removal would take place next, Conte said.
The RCMP are controlling and providing security around the townsite, ensuring everyone in the townsite is working with the Incident Command team.
Reception centres for evacuees were set up in Grande Prairie, Edmonton and Calgary, with a full reception centre being anticipated for Hinton, Conte said. The Red Cross was also helping evacuees in Hinton.
On August 2, evacuees from the Evergreens Foundation’s Pine Grove Manor—the seniors apartment complex in Jasper which was destroyed in the fire—were transported to Evergreens facilities in Hinton and Edson.
Shepherd suggested all the moving parts make the re-entry process even more layered than fighting the 34,000 ha. wildfire.
“We still have a very large, complex wildfire but probably a more complex process for the unified command team is managing the safe re-entry for residents,” he said.
Blake agreed.
“This is the most complicated incident that people in the organization have dealt with,” he said.
Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com
