Evacuees from Jasper, Alta., clog the highway on July 23.Carolyn Campbell/Supplied
Tourists and residents in Jasper National Park, one of Canada’s marquee mountain destinations, were ordered to flee west towards British Columbia late Monday evening as wildfires flared up in northern Alberta.
Alberta instructed people to leave the town of Jasper at 9:59 p.m. and expanded the evacuation order to the entire park about 20 minutes later. Officials said the town, which is overflowing with visitors in the summer, should be emptied in five hours.
Fire, smoke, and the mountain terrain limited the exit options. Evacuees could only head west on Highway 16 towards Valemount, B.C., with the highway blocked east of the park by the fire. Highway 93, the scenic north-south route known as the Icefields Parkway, was also closed south of Jasper to Saskatchewan River Crossing.
Photos and videos posted to social media showed long lines of cars, as residents and tourists fled the encroaching fire in the dark.
“It’s wall-to-wall traffic,” said Edmonton resident Carolyn Campbell in a phone interview from her vehicle.
“It (the smoke) is pretty thick. We’ve got masks in the car.”
Campbell said it took hours to move just seven kilometres. She said they had enough gas but worried for others who fled with little in the tank.
A photo taken during evacuation of Jasper Provincial Park.Daniel Parker/Supplied
Jasper National Park abuts Banff National Park to the south and is a prime attraction for tourists and locals. The Jasper townsite, with a population of about 4,700, is thick with hotels, and the park has over 2,000 campsites, adding countless more to the number of evacuees. The national park, the largest in the Canadian Rockies at around 11,000 square kilometres, is a popular spot for day trips and extended stays. It is famous for its glaciers, wildlife, and mountain vistas.
Drivers evacuating the area were being encouraged to slow down and use their headlights, as smoke and ash were expected to reduce visibility.
Parks Canada said in a Facebook post that evacuations had already taken place at numerous campgrounds, as well as the Athabasca Hostel and the Palisades Stewardship and Education Centre.
“Parks Canada is responding to multiple wildfire starts. This is an evolving and dynamic situation,” the agency said in the post.
The Municipality of Jasper and Jasper National Park said in an updated emergency alert Tuesday morning the evacuation from the townsite and the park is “progressing well” and people should continue to follow directives as the majority of traffic is being directed west on Highway 16.
“Only when roadside fire conditions permit, small groups of escorted vehicles will be directed east on Highway 16,” the town and park officials said in the alert.
Park and town officials scrambled to clear up traffic gridlock, find fuel for vehicles, help vulnerable people get to safety while also marshalling resources to battle the fires.
“We are working with the Government of Alberta to establish a reception centre in a large city,” Jasper town officials said.
“If you can find a campground or hotel to spend the night, or family or friends where you can spend the night, please do so.”
Officials in B.C., already dealing with hundreds of wildfires burning in the province, were preparing for evacuees fleeing the Jasper fire late Monday.
“B.C. will do everything we can to provide safe refuge for evacuees from Jasper, and are working as quickly as possible to co-ordinate routes and arrange host communities on our side of the border,” said Bowinn Ma, B.C.’s minister for emergency management, in a social media post on X just after 11 p.m.
Officials had ordered residents in about 440 properties across B.C. to evacuate on Monday. Another 3,000 were under evacuation alert, meaning that, on short notice, they could soon be asked to do the same during a “dynamic and everchanging” situation. About 330 fires were burning in B.C. on Monday.
The village of Valemount, a town of 1,000 just over the B.C.-Alberta boundary, opened its community hall to take in evacuees, with limited space for overnight lodging.
“We are able to give them some water, potentially some snacks,” village CEO Anne Yanciw said in an interview.
“For those who have been evacuated from their homes, we are able to give them vouchers for a place to stay and vouchers for food.”
Yanciw said there was no immediate need to direct evacuees to move on further west to Prince George — a larger centre with more facilities to handle evacuees.
“They (the evacuees) are already tired. It’s the middle of the night, and a three-hour drive to Prince George could just mean accidents. We’re telling them that (Prince George) is their final destination, but just not tonight,” Yanciw said.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, she said the community was “pretty full.”
“Every parking lot, boulevard, side of the road, field ... anything that looks like it could fit a vehicle is full.”
Some evacuees spent the night on the floor of the local arena. Others bunked down at the Legion. A local church was serving a pancake breakfast while drinks, snacks, information and a respite were on offer at Valemount’s community hall and visitors’ centre.
Prior to the Jasper evacuation, Alberta counted about 7,500 evacuees in other parts of the province. Evacuation orders are also in place for Little Red River Cree Nation’s three communities of John D’Or Prairie, Fox Lake and Garden River; Chipewyan Lake; and Janvier 194 (Chipewyan Prairie First Nation).
Smoke rises from a wildfire burning in Jasper, Alta., in this screengrab obtained from a social media video.JOE OLIVER/Supplied
Little Red River Cree Nation is under threat from the Semo wildfire complex which is burning nearby. That fire is estimated to be more than 960 square kilometres in size.
“The next 48 hours is pretty critical,” Chief Conroy Sewepagaham said in a video update on Facebook.
“The dozer groups are going to be working 24-7. They’re going to do whatever they can to extend Highway 58 towards High Level, and extending the northern portion of the highway going into Garden River.”
Alberta Wildfire said the nearby blaze had reached Highway 58, the only road out of Garden River, and was 13 kilometres northwest of the community itself as of Monday afternoon.
Alberta Wildfire counted 170 active wildfires as of Tuesday morning.
The province has been under an extended heat wave for the last week, fueling the latest burst of wildfires. Parts of Fort McMurray were evacuated this spring, as Alberta’s extended drought left the area primed for a dangerous fire season. Spring and early summer rains brought relief but the recent stretch of hot weather, coupled with a lack of precipitation, turned Alberta’s fortune.
With reports from The Canadian Press