Uncertainty is giving way to grief for people forced from their homes in Jasper, Alta., as more details emerge about the destruction caused by the largest wildfire the national park has seen in more than a century.
Officials from the Municipality of Jasper and Parks Canada — the lead agency on the firefighting effort — released a map and list of addresses showing where buildings were damaged in the community this week. The information is based on damage visible from the street, said Christine Nadon, the town’s incident commander.
“We have not been inside buildings or seen the back side of properties,” Nadon said during a news conference Saturday afternoon.
“Buildings marked as ‘not damaged’ on the map could have internal damage from smoke and water.”
She stressed that the information is preliminary and subject to change.
A massive wall of flames moved in Wednesday, levelling entire neighbourhoods. Parks Canada officials estimated Friday that 358 of the town’s 1,113 structures — about one-third of all buildings — were destroyed.
Damage assessments are still underway, but structures are mostly destroyed or unaffected, Nadon said.
“Most of [the affected buildings] are destroyed, not damaged, from our initial assessments. We’re looking at foundations,” she said.
“Very few fall under the category of ‘damaged.'”
In an update posted on social media Saturday, officials said the fire continues to burn out of control and has now consumed an estimated 32,000 hectares.
Most of [the affected buildings] are destroyed, not damaged, from our initial assessments. We’re looking at foundations.– Christine Nadon, Municipality of Jasper incident commander
The size was downgraded from an estimated 36,000 hectares following an aerial survey of the perimeter, the statement said. Landon Shepherd, a Parks Canada incident commander, told reporters Saturday it is the largest fire in more than 100 years.
“At this time, we’re not expecting that it’s going to be easy to change the status from ‘out of control’ to ‘being held,'” Shepherd said.
Officials have urged patience as their crews, with help from newly-arrived troops, continue to battle the flames while also verifying the scope of the damage, house by house.
“It takes time to get this information correct, we understand your frustrations and we will publicly share more information when we are in a better position to do so,” Parks Canada said in a statement late Friday.
“We want to avoid telling people they lost their home when they didn’t, or saying they didn’t lose their home when they did.”
Recent fire activity has been low thanks to cooler, wet weather, but a return to slightly warmer temperatures is expected to escalate the danger, parks officials said Saturday.
Crews are working along the perimeter closest to town, dousing hot spots and are planning for the creation of containment lines that would act as a barrier if the flames return.
As of Friday evening, when government officials toured the areas hardest hit by the fire, some parts of the wreckage were still smouldering.
Officials expect that all remaining fires within the townsite will be extinguished Saturday.
Premier Danielle Smith, Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland and federal Minister of Emergency Preparedness Harjit Sajjan get a firsthand look Friday at the extensive damage from the wildfire that hit the town of Jasper — including the mayor’s home since childhood. Some of the businesses and homes shown on the tour still smouldered as firefighters hosed down rubble.
Bucketing, meanwhile, will be taking place near Marmot Basin, where the damage to infrastructure remains unknown.
Power is being restored to parts of the downtown core and critical infrastructure, a key step in speeding damage assessment and recovery, parks officials said.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith would like to see bus tours organized for Jasper evacuees, so they can see the damage for themselves and know what to expect when they’re eventually allowed to return home, she said while on her provincewide call-in radio show Saturday.
Smith also said she’d like temporary housing arranged for residents so they can live in the town while they rebuild their homes.
Arrangements are also being made to allow evacuees who were forced to flee west to Valemount, B.C., to safely travel through the park to reunite with family in Alberta, on the park’s east side.
The population of Valemount, B.C., has nearly doubled because of an influx of evacuees from nearby Jasper, Alta., who have set up temporary residence as they wait to figure out their next steps.
It’s unclear when residents will be allowed to return home and begin the daunting process of rebuilding destroyed properties and repairing those still standing. But Parks Canada expects to be fighting the fire for at least three months, Shepherd said, noting that fire season in Jasper tends to last “well into the fall.”
The wildfire danger has subsided due to heavy rain, said Melissa Story, an Alberta Wildfire information officer, during a news conference Saturday. But with added rain, comes the risk of lighting strikes — and with temperatures expected to rise in the coming days, the wildfire danger will again escalate.
The fire in Jasper, one of 152 burning across Alberta, remains a top priority for provincial firefighting crews, she said.
“Cooler, rainy weather is helping firefighters in their efforts,” she said. “This will take some time, but rest assured, good progress is being made.”
Stephen Lacroix, senior assistant deputy minister and managing director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, called this period a critical moment in the wildfire response.
The Alberta government has co-ordinated the deployment of more than 250 wildland urban interface personnel directly to Jasper, he said, and it remains committed to helping as the situation unfolds.
The fire, described as a monster with flames reaching 100 metres high, hit Jasper late Wednesday, scorching portions of the town about 365 kilometres west of Edmonton.
Two wildfires — one north, the other south — had threatened Jasper for days, forcing thousands to evacuate Monday evening as the flames flared dangerously amid powerful winds.
The south fire initially started as three separate fires, which converged and grew quickly, Shepherd said. The fire has been described as a monster, with flames reaching 100 metres high, when it hit Jasper late Wednesday, scorching portions of the town about 365 kilometres west of Edmonton.
As the southern fire spread across the townsite and beyond, it merged with the northern fire. It is now called the Jasper Wildfire Complex, and includes the Utopia wildfire near Miette Hot Springs.
The fire continues to burn out of control, but conditions are expected to temporarily calm amid cooler, wet weather in the mountain park this weekend.
Fire crews have been taking advantage of the conditions to make progress on dousing hot spots in smouldering buildings, and along the wildfire perimeter nearest the Jasper townsite.
Troops arrive
Outside the gates of fire-ravaged Jasper National Park, military cargo trucks rumble along the highway, carrying soldiers clad in green camouflage.
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces have arrived to help with the firefighting effort. Soldiers from southwestern Manitoba’s CFB Shilo were the first to arrive Friday night, setting up camp in Hinton, inside the local recreation centre and arena.
Hinton, a town outside the national park’s eastern gates, became the wildfire centre of operations after most first responders had to evacuate Jasper Wednesday night.
When the Forces respond to a crisis like a wildfire, it is known as Operation Lentus. Troops will be providing logistical support and assisting with firefighting, including dousing hotspots and mopping up areas devastated by the flames.
Troops will spend Saturday morning on forced rest before preparing for deployments on the front lines to fight alongside Alberta firefighters already in the field, said Maj. Colin Carswell, of combat service support company command, based in Shilo.
“We have a great team,” Carswell said, adding that the soldiers, trained for the tasks at hand, are eager to help.
“Once you see the people that are affected, some people or some families that have come in from Jasper that stop and talk to you, you really think about how, if this happened to you, you would want somebody like our team helping them out.”
Fire crews have deemed Jasper safe enough for CBC to get a first hand look at the damage caused by wildfire.
The troops deploy with three days worth of ready-to-eat meals — what the military calls individual meal packs (IMPs), or rations, he said.
“We are working to, eventually, bring out kitchen trailers to serve fresh meals to the soldiers, so they can have a nice hot meal and a shower in the arena after a long day on the lines with the Alberta wildfires,” Carswell said.
The provincial government will host a telephone town hall for wildfire evacuees on Monday from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Details on how to join are available here.