Alberta's Jasper National Park and its townsite are under siege from two wind-whipped wildfires, one of which raced into the picturesque community on Wednesday night, causing extensive damage.
Parks Canada says the fire has caused significant losses within the town, and the social media account for Fairmont's famous Jasper Park Lodge says the flames had reached the hotel's grounds.
As the fire consumed more fuel, officials said the air quality dropped to dangerous levels, prompting fire crews without breathing apparatus to flee to the nearby community of Hinton.
Jasper, a postcard-perfect mountain town, is famous for hiking, skiing, kayaking and biking. It is also home to dozens of species such as elk, mountain goats, cougars, lynx, black bears and grizzly bears. The United Nations designated the parks that make up the Canadian Rockies, including Jasper, a World Heritage Site in 1984.
Photos on social media show lodges and other buildings wrapped in sheets of orange flame.
“Structural firefighters remain in town and are working to save as many structures as possible," Parks Canada said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta’s request for federal assistance. Alberta Forestry Minister Todd Loewen has asked for help from the Canadian military.
"We are requesting firefighting resources, aerial support to move wildfire crews and equipment and more," Loewen wrote on the social media platform X.
Earlier in the day, all first responders were ordered out of Jasper National Park for their safety and to give fire crews more room to operate.
The fires are burning on the north and south sides of the town, which is home to 5,000 people. The residents have left, along with 20,000 park visitors.
The order to leave was issued around 10 p.m. Monday as fires cut off road access to Jasper. Residents and visitors fled west into British Columbia in a long, slow midnight procession through swirling smoke and ash.
The following day, evacuees in B.C. who didn’t have a place to stay were directed to make the long drive around the fires back to Alberta to evacuation centres in Grande Prairie and Calgary.
The northern fire was spotted five kilometres from Jasper earlier Wednesday. The southern fire was farther away, but Parks Canada says strong winds sent it racing toward the town.
That forced crews using heavy equipment to pull back for safety. Water bombers were grounded due to dangerous flying conditions.
At the Grande Prairie evacuation centre, Addison McNeill recalled arriving in Jasper from Edmonton only to be told to get out.
"I moved there two hours before the evacuation notice," the 24-year-old said in an interview.
McNeill said she went to a nearby hotel, one of two meet-up points for those without transportation. She hopped in a recreational vehicle with others and headed out — at a snail's pace.
"Every single person in town was beelining to one exit from about six different routes and so you get bottleneck, backups and congestion,” she said.
McNeill said as she sat inside the vehicle, she felt so close to the wildfires that the windows seemed like they were going to shatter from the pressure of the hot, smoky air.
She saw acts of kindness amid the swirling ash: neighbours loaning their cars to those without; people knocking on doors to see if everyone inside was OK.
"It was far from a panic," she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2024.
Comments