Jasper residents 'quite calm' despite wildfire, coping with no electricity

A helicopter douses the Chetamon Mountain wildfire on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022 (CTV News Edmonton/Joe Scarpelli).

JASPER, Alta. — For Jasper residents, the sight of helicopters dropping water on the Chetamon Mountain wildfire is becoming a normal sight.

Fire crews are trying to slow a wildfire roughly 6,000 hectares in size, up from 1,500 from a day earlier, approximately 15 to 16 kilometres north of the Rocky Mountain town.

The fire knocked out power briefly Sunday night as flames damaged ATCO transmission lines supplying the town. Officials are so far not considering an evacuation for the town.

On Monday morning, flames wreaked further havoc on power lines, leaving the community without electricity.

Lydia Park, of Tangle Creek Gifts, still showed up to work Monday, although with a lantern.

For Park, one of the biggest challenges is that no debit or credit payments can be processed.

"It's been eight or nine hours of working in the dark," Park told CTV News Edmonton. "There's no light and even no CCTV. So it's a very hard time."

The community's grocery stores, restaurants, and gas stations were also in the dark. Emergency generators were being brought online by ATCO to power essential infrastructure, like the water treatment plant and hospital.

Intersections with lights were turned into four-way stops as drivers moved around the town.

Doug Sparrow, Fire and Flood Emergency Services general manager, is a contractor working with Parks Canada to prepare water lines to halt wildfire growth.

"We will pump water that will build a curtain of moisture to protect the treeline or structures," he explained. "Right now, we are on standby, ready to be deployed once we hear from Parks Canada."

Yesterday his crew was waiting in a staging area but had to evacuate from the site as winds helped fuel the wildfire's growth. Luckily a spattering of overnight rain and cooler temperatures have given crews some brief respite.

"(Now), we're really just waiting for Parks Canada to find out what the next move is," Sparrow said. "This is standard procedure for us. This is what we live for. We like to save people, places, and things, and that's what we build our reputation on."

Jasper residents Jacob Sebela and Petra Solovska returned home to no power after a camping trip for the long weekend.

At first, the couple said they were nervous about the wildfire, but are now just watching the updates to see how the situation develops.

"We saw the flames and the smoke, but it looked like it was quite far away," Solovska said. "(Now) people here seem quite calm."

While living without power can be an inconvenience, the couple says of all places in the province, Jasper should be ready.

"I think everybody is more or less (prepared)," Solovska added with a smile. "It's full of outdoor people here."

"We are still trying not to panic and (just) go with the flow," she said.

"It should be alright," Sebela said.

Residents and visitors to the national park can receive emergency updates by calling 780-852-6540 or follow social media updates posted by the municipality.

An emergency reception station opened at the Jasper Activity Centre to act as an information hub and provide charging stations for residents, should emergency generator capacity allow.