Scorched metal and ashen debris, fortified within charred concrete walls, lie under a cloudy sky in what was once a basement.
Several government and emergency officials huddle together in Jasper, Alta., staring into the open casket containing the remnants of a cremated home. The property, surrounded by seemingly untouched evergreen trees and houses, belonged to Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland. He said he lived in it for 67 years.
The house marks one of more than 350 structures destroyed in the town this week.
A few members of the media were allowed into Jasper Friday afternoon, offering the first glimpse of the damage wrought by a massive wildfire that ripped through the historic townsite Wednesday night.
“Together we’ll get through this and we’ll build back,” Premier Danielle Smith told reporters earlier Friday in Hinton, Alta. “No matter what comes, we are not going to lose the enduring magic of Jasper.”
Of the 1,113 total structures within the town, 358 were destroyed, Jasper National Park said on social media Friday.
A video posted on social media walking the path north past the playground between Cabin Creek Drive and Patricia Street in Jasper, Alta. Credit: Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye / X
“Most of our residents will have a home to return to. Some will not,” Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland told reporters in Hinton, Alta., Friday. He said there is no timeline for residents to return.
“It will be a sad mix of people who have lost their home and their livelihoods … It’s going to be difficult,” Ireland said. “The pain that will be felt almost defies description.”
Smith said residents could be away for several weeks, at least, so the government is expediting its evacuation payment program for those displaced from Jasper and the national park.
“The fire is still out of control and it remains unsafe for people to return,” Smith told reporters in Hinton. “We can’t have unlimited re-entry into the park at this time.”
Payments are usually eligible to people who have been displaced by disaster for a week. Evacuees will receive $1,250 for each adult and $500 per child.
Two wildfires — one north, the other south — had threatened Jasper for days, forcing thousands to evacuate as they encroached on two highways. The south fire, described as a monster with flames reaching 100 metres high, reached Jasper late Wednesday, scorching portions of town.
Park officials confirmed Thursday night that the north and south fires had merged. The Jasper Wildfire Complex includes those fires and the Utopia wildfire, near Miette Hot Springs, that started July 19.
In all, the flames have burned an estimated 36,000 hectares, although strong winds, extreme fire behaviour and heavy clouds and smoke have posed challenges to accurately mapping the perimeter.
Smith and two provincial cabinet ministers said Thursday that preliminary estimates suggested 30 to 50 per cent of the town’s structures may have burned. Officials from Parks Canada, the lead agency on the fire, confirmed there was significant loss throughout the community, but did not offer an estimate until Friday.
The figures from Jasper National Park on Friday show that 32 per cent of all structures in the townsite were destroyed.
The west side of Jasper and southeast of Miette Avenue were hardest hit, officials said Friday, echoing previous assessments.
“It was the hard work of the firefighters and the front-line workers who protected Jasper from even more damage — and for that, we are all grateful,” Smith said.
Assessment of infrastructure damage is ongoing but all critical infrastructure — including the hospital, schools, activity centre and wastewater treatment plant — was saved, the national park’s statement said.
Certain conditions must be met before residents can return, such as cleanup and re-establishing emergency services, Stephen Lacroix, head of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, told reporters in a virtual news conference Friday.
Smith said power and gas are still shut off but ATCO will spend the coming days going from building to building, trying to reactivate utilities.
On Friday, Ireland, Smith and federal Minister of Emergency Preparedness Harjit Sajjan toured the command centre in Hinton, Alta., that is orchestrating firefighting in Jasper and the national park.
Officials say up to 50 per cent of the structures in Jasper, Alta., have been destroyed as crews try to push back a wildfire that’s still threatening the community.
Hinton became the hive of operations after many first responders evacuated Jasper Wednesday evening, in part due to dangerously poor air quality on the front line.
“It is incredible to see the work that everyone is doing to fight this fire,” Smith said.
Firefighters in Jasper, about 365 kilometres west of Edmonton, are focusing on extinguishing hot spots on the town’s outskirts and trees surrounding the community, as well as structures, Jasper National Park said.
Rain and cooler temperatures have reduced fire activity in the area, but the flames are still out of control.
Emergency officials are promising to take advantage of a reprieve from the volatile weather that fuelled the wildfires, before forecasted warm weather arrives.
Crews are bracing for a long battle with the fire. Officials have said it could take weeks, if not longer, to gain the upper hand.
Smith and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke Thursday about the wildfire situation in Jasper.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said they discussed the resources and support being made available to the fire-ravaged town as well as other communities in Alberta being threatened by wildfires.
Trudeau and Smith have agreed to stay in regular contact as the situation unfolds.
CBC’s Lauren Bird breaks down how the fast-moving wildfire situation in Jasper, Alta., unfolded and what it was like for the nearly 25,000 people who were forced to flee.
During a news conference Thursday, Sajjan said all necessary resources will be brought to bear on the fires. Given the intensity of the fires, every aid request from the province was approved by the federal government, he said.
“No stone will be left unturned,” Sajjan said.