Jasper resident tours pushed back to Monday

A helicopter buckets water onto smouldering fires outside of 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 1100 structures, mainly impacting residential areas. (Amber Bracken / The Canadian Press)

Tours of wildfire damage in the Jasper townsite on Sunday were pushed back one day because of a wildland firefighter's death.

The 24-year-old Calgary man who worked at the Rocky Mountain House Fire Base died Saturday after he was injured by a falling tree.

"Personally, as father and grandfather, the loss of a young firefighter is hard to bear," Alberta's forestry and parks minister, Todd Loewen, said during the provincial wildfire update Sunday afternoon.

"I know that I speak unanimously for my caucus colleagues in sending heartfelt sympathies to this courageous young man's family and friends. I want to recognize his unwavering commitment to protecting our communities. This will never be forgotten."

Officials said tour participants should have been notified of the cancellation Saturday night and that the government was trying to get everyone originally scheduled for a tour on Sunday moved to Monday.

"I know this is disappointing for many Jasper evacuees who were hoping to see their homes today, but the fire situation is also too unpredictable today. We are planning to begin the bus tours tomorrow, pending fire conditions," Loewen said.

Jasper residents and business owners have not yet seen in person the damage caused by a wildfire that breached the town on July 24 and burned down about 30 per cent of its buildings.

The tours are dependent on the wildfire risk being low enough that the emergency command centre can dedicate resources to tracking the tour groups and extracting them, if conditions were to become emergent while the buses are still in Jasper.

Although Sunday's tours were cancelled Saturday evening because of the firefighter's death, it is likely they otherwise would have been cancelled Sunday morning because of wildfire conditions.

"I'm hearing that they would have been cancelled anyways," said Joe Zatylny, deputing managing director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.

According to Parks Canada, fire activity picked up on Saturday because of hot and dry conditions, including around Edith and Annette lakes and on Pyramid Beach, but no more structures were impacted.

The Jasper Wildfire Complex grew about 2,000 hectares on Saturday, pushing its total size to 34,000 hectares.

Wildfire overview

Across the province, there were 120 wildfires burning in protected forests on Sunday, 16 of which were burning out of control.

Alberta Wildfire is expecting rain in the coming days will help crews in multiple locations.

In northern Alberta, Chipewyan Lake residents in the Municipal District of Opportunity returned home on Sunday. On Monday, residents of the Little Red River Cree Nation will do the same.

Near the B.C.-Alberta boundary, an evacuation order and two alerts were still active in the Gordondale area as of 3 p.m. Officials said 12 families were affected by the evacuation order.