Jasper Townsite Fire Damage Pegged At 30 Percent

By

Jennifer Bain

Published Date

July 27, 2024

Jasper National Park remains closed as crews fight a wildfire that reached the townsite/Parks Canada

Parks Canada estimates fire damage to the townsite in Jasper National Park to be 30 per cent. It has revealed that 358 of 1,113 structures within the Alberta mountain town have been destroyed in the fast-moving blaze that forced the evacuation of 25,000 people.

All critical infrastructure was successfully protected including the hospital, library and firehall.

“We are grateful to our responders' efforts to contain the fire, minimize the damage and begin to restore essential utilities,” the federal agency said Friday night. “We are empathetic to the residents and businesses seeking more information on specific details on the extent of damage.”

Acknowledging that people are seeing images of the damage on social media and in media outlets, the park said it wants to “avoid telling people they lost their home when they didn’t, or saying they didn’t lose their home when they did." A list of addresses of damaged structures will soon be released.

Those who may have left pets behind are being asked to call or text 780-852-5518 so the bylaw officer can take them to Hinton SPCA.

The Seton-Jasper Healthcare Centre was protected from the wildfire/Parks Canada

On Friday, crews took advantage of the cooler weather to make progress on containing the remaining hots pots in smoldering structures and along the wildfire perimeter closest to the townsite.

The priority for the 154 firefighters is to put out any hot spots in the outskirts of Jasper and in the trees directly surrounding the town and all structures. But winds are anticipated to reach up to 18 miles/hour and may increase fire activity.

The area of what's being called the Jasper Wildfire Complex covers about 90,000 of the park’s 2.7 million acres. Within the estimated perimeter there are areas completely burned, partially burned and untouched.

Jasper remains closed and an evacuation order is still in effect.

This emergency evolved rapidly from the first report of a wildfire to the northeast of town just after 7 p.m on July 22., to a second fire south of town shortly after. Within 48 hours, the wildfires reached the town. Roughly 25,000 people were evacuated, mainly visitors along with 4,000 residents. Nobody was injured.

The Jasper Fitness & Aquatic Centre wasn't damaged in the blaze/Parks Canada

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