The remains of restaurants and business' in Jasper, Alta., on July 26.AMBER BRACKEN/The Canadian Press
Widespread smoke and less than ideal weather have made battling the Jasper wildfire more challenging for airborne firefighters, Alberta’s forestry minister said Wednesday.
Todd Loewen thanked wildland firefighters he said have worked day and night to tackle wildfires across the province, including the one continuing to threaten Jasper National Park and its townsite.
“Crews have done amazing work using a mix of tactics,” such as ground firefighting and water bombers, he said.
“Recently, smoke and weather have sometimes made aerial operations difficult, showing just how important our ground crews are to effective wildfire response.”
Around 25,000 residents and visitors were forced from the park two weeks ago as a pair of wildfires encroached on the area, which remains under an evacuation order.
Merging into one massive fire, the blaze destroyed about a third of the town’s structures. But key infrastructure, including schools and the water treatment plant, was spared.
There is still no timeline for when residents can return to Jasper, but bus tours have begun for residents. Priority is being given to those whose homes were lost or damaged. Residents aren’t allowed off the buses during the tours.
Separate tours are also being scheduled for business owners to survey property damage.
Joe Zatylny, deputy managing director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, has said 277 households have signed up for tours.
One bus was scheduled to leave Edmonton on Wednesday and pick up more residents in Hinton, Alta., before continuing to Jasper. Another bus, scheduled for Thursday, is expected to travel from Calgary to Edson, Alta.
Those on the bus would spend the night in Edson before continuing to Jasper on Friday.
“We’ll continue to provide these tours for as long as the demand is there, (so) there’s no end date in sight for us at this point,” said Zatylny.
“We’re making sure that the priority is the residents (who) have lost or have damaged homes, but of course, we’re encouraging all residents to sign up.”
He also said staff from the Town of Jasper are working to finalize a plan for re-entry. A new website is expected to detail the progress.
Officials have said a limited number of critical and retail services, including gas stations, grocery stores and pharmacies, are doing initial damage assessments as preparation for re-entry continues.