Jasper resident tours of wildfire destruction to begin on Sunday

Melted chairs are shown outside of the burned Maligne Lodge after wildfires encroached into Jasper, Alta., on Friday, July 26, 2024. Wildfires encroaching into the townsite of Jasper forced an evacuation of the national park and have destroyed over 300 of the town's approximately 1,100 structures, mainly impacting residential areas. (Amber Bracken / The Canadian Press)

Jasper residents who lost their home or business to a wildfire that ate into the mountain town on July 24 will have the chance to see the damage in person for the first time starting Sunday.

Bus tours are scheduled to leave from Edmonton and Hinton on Sunday.

Until now, only emergency and government officials have seen the destruction in person.

"The feedback we were getting (was) there was a desire from residents," Joe Zatylny, deputy managing director of Alberta Emergency Management Agency, said during a news conference on Saturday.

"The government decided to make sure that we did what we could to expedite this."

That Jasperites would be allowed to tour the townsite was confirmed on Friday when online registration opened, however, no dates were given.

Although all Jasper residents were told they could register for a tour, those who lost property will be given first access.

No one will be allowed to leave the bus during the tour for safety reasons.

A support person will also be on the bus, Zatylny said, and information about other mental health resources will be provided.

The tour schedule could change if the wildfire risk changes, he added.

Parks Canada did not provide an update on the Jasper Wildfire Complex – last estimated to be 32,500 hectares in size – Saturday morning.

Provincial wildfire update

There were 117 wildfires burning in Alberta's protected forests as of Saturday afternoon, 17 of which were out of control.

Wildfire activity picked up on Friday in the Nordegg area, where two of three lightning-caused fires, named the Kiska Complex, are growing. Located 25 kilometres south of Nordegg and 20 kilometres west of Nordegg, these two blazes are about 7,000 hectares and 4,500 hectares in size. Firefighters are working on the more southern fire, but it has not been safe for them to access the western one.

As for the Burstall Lake Fire in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, that blaze remained out of control on Saturday but did not grow over Friday night, officials said. They said it's too early to confirm the cause of the fire.

The fire danger was still extreme or very high across southern Alberta on Saturday, and moderate to high throughout the northern regions.

Officials reminded Albertans to check for fire bans in their area over the long weekend and follow any rules that were in place.