Two fires that have forced thousands of people to evacuate from Jasper National Park are expected to grow rapidly on Wednesday after shifting winds pushed the flames closer to the mountain townsite.
Multiple fires are burning in the national park. Two, burning to the north and south, are threatening the town of Jasper.
Fuelled by parched conditions, the fires have moved closer to the scenic community and the flames continue to expand their reach.
As of Wednesday morning, the fire burning north of Jasper had moved within five kilometres of the townsite and had scorched at least 270 hectares.
The fire burning south of town is now eight kilometres from Jasper and has burned an estimated 10,800 hectares of forest. Both fires are expected to grow on Wednesday and emergency officials warn that the fire perimeters are changing minute by minute.
At least 10,000 residents and 15,000 visitors were forced out of the national park Monday night under an evacuation order as the fires flared after days of scorching heat.
In a news conference Wednesday morning, Parks Canada incident commander Katie Ellsworth said crews are facing another challenging day attempting to keep the flames away from homes and businesses.
She said “aggressive” fire behaviour is expected to continue.
“It is still a very dynamic situation,” Ellsworth said. “We expect today that we’re going to have strong winds continuing and we expect that this will increase our fire behaviour and fire growth on both sides and on all flanks.
“Winds in Jasper have been consistently high and gusty for the last several weeks and this has not changed in the last few days, and there was significant fire behaviour and fire spread. We do anticipate that conditions are going to be similar again today.”
As of Tuesday evening, the wildfire to the south of Jasper had burned at least 6,750 hectares and drawn within 12 kilometres of the townsite.
The southern fire stretches from the Kerkeslin campground and follows the Icefields Parkway to the north. It has burned areas near Horseshoe Lake and Wabasso Lake.
The north wildfire, between the Jasper transfer station and the Jasper airstrip on both sides of Highway 16, had burned at least 270 hectares.
Crews have been tracking the flames from the sky, but accurately mapping their spread has been stymied by thick columns of smoke filling the sky.
There is little relief in the forecast until Thursday evening when rain is expected in the area, Ellsworth said
“However, the rain doesn’t count until it’s on the ground and there isn’t enough rain in this forecast to control the wildfire,” she said. “It is still burning out of control and very aggressively.”
She said emergency officials believe some infrastructure along the Icefields Parkway has been damaged but conditions were too risky for crews to fully assess the losses.
No damage has been reported within the townsite, she said.
Emergency officials, however, are preparing for the possibility that the flames could cross into the townsite. She said crews are patrolling neighbourhoods and safeguarding homes by installing sprinklers and removing flammable materials from properties.
The town has emptied out but in the backcountry, the evacuation is ongoing. Emergency officials remain concerned about hikers who may still be unaccounted for.
Jasper is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies — covering 11,228 square kilometres of extensive trails and mountain terrain — and getting the message out to everyone on the trail has proven difficult.
During Wednesday’s news conference, Ellsworth said 245 hikers have either been picked up or helped to leave the park since the evacuation began.
She said helicopter crews are flying low along the trails, working to airlift stranded hikers out or direct them toward a safe trailhead, when possible.
She said the most dangerous backcountry areas have been cleared but the sweeps will continue Wednesday in lower-risk areas.
All hikers reported missing or in distress have been accounted for, but Albertans are encouraged to contact people who may be in the mountains and unaware of the fire danger.
Volatile conditions
Ellsworth said Tuesday she called for the evacuation orders to be issued as the fires flared dangerously Monday evening. Volatile conditions were driven weeks of relentless heat and strong gusting winds, she said.
“These fires were exhibiting aggressive, aggressive fire behaviour,” she said.
“Unfortunately due to the weather conditions at the time, and the gusting strong winds, it was really quickly very apparent that life safety needed to come first and we needed to evacuate immediately.”
After the order to leave, thousands of vehicles gridlocked roads leading to safety.
With wildfires cutting off highway access east to Edmonton and south along the Icefields Parkway, many were forced west into British Columbia. Evacuees were initially ordered west but were later redirected to Alberta.
Reception centres have since been set up in Grande Prairie, Calgary and Edmonton, where evacuees are being helped with accommodations.
Parks Canada is managing the firefighting efforts from a unified command centre but local, provincial and federal agencies are assisting in the response.
Crews are dousing the flames from the sky and establishing fire guards around the community while sprinkler systems are being installed to protect critical infrastructure.
“The degree of collaboration and co-operation is extremely high,” Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said in an interview Wednesday. “Those jurisdictional boundaries are just forgotten. People are working as a team.”
The town is now focused on providing critical services to first responders who have descended on the area, Ireland said.
“As the fire approaches, that may have to change. We’ll see how the day goes.”
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