Rain reduces wildfire activity, aids firefighters: Jasper park officials

Town of Jasper damaged by fire CTV News Edmonton has team coverage of the fire the raged through the town of Jasper on Wednesday.

11 p.m. MT: Rain keeps wildfire activity to 'minimum'

Jasper National Park officials said in an update to their Facebook page Thursday night that rain over the day resulted in "minimal fire behaviour and spread."

They said the Jasper Wildfire Complex — the north and much larger south fires combined on Wednesday, when the blaze reached the Town of Jasper — is now estimated to be 36,000 hectares.

A third fire — Parks Canada has labelled it the Utopia wildfire, which started on Friday — is burning near the Miette Hot Springs, which is located close to the national park's eastern border and sits about 35 kilometres northeast of the Jasper townsite and 35 kilometres southwest of Hinton.

Officials said the recent rain "will likely keep fire behaviour low for the next 72 hours," allowing crews to work to reduce and suppress the wildfires.

— This is the final wildfire update of the day.

5:15 p.m. MT: Jasper Park Lodge 'mostly intact'

In an update posted to its Instagram account, the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said most of its structures are "standing and intact," including its iconic main lodge.

"While we will need time to assess the full scale of the damage and the timelines required for repair and restoration, we are deeply relieved that much of the property was spared and the resort will re-open in the future," JPL staff said.

4:45 p.m. MT: Critical infrastructure successfully protected

Jasper National Park officials in an update said all critical infrastructure in the townsite has been "successfully protected, including the hospital, emergency services building, both elementary and junior/senior schools, activity centre and wastewater treatment plant," according to its Incident Command.

They said the most significant damage to the town occurred on the west side, southwest of Miette Avenue, and that much of the infrastructure on the east side has avoided significant damage thanks to firefighting efforts.

"Our priority remains protecting structures that have not yet been impacted by fire," officials said, adding that several bridges both in the town and the park were damaged by fire.

"These impacts will slow down access to the Maligne Lake and Highway 93 and it will take time for a full damage assessment to take place in these areas.".

Wildfire was driven by 100 km/h gusts

Winds gusting to 100 km/h on Wednesday propelled both the south and north fires toward the town and merged the two together, officials said.

The wildfire's current size is unknown.

'Still out of control'

Rain and cooler temperatures descended on the area Thursday, and while officials said wildfire activity has been "significantly subdued" as a result, the blaze is still considered out of control.

"Significant work remains before conditions are safe enough to allow for limited re-entry into the park," they said.

4:30 p.m. MT: Ottawa 'very quickly' OK'd additional support

Federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan, in a Thursday afternoon news conference with provincial counterpart Mike Ellis, said Ottawa "very quickly" approved supplying support needed to fight wildfires in Jasper and northern Alberta.

He says given the intensity of the fires, every aid request from the province was granted.

"In (Wednesday's) situation, even before what was taking place in Jasper — because there's significant wildfires in northern Alberta — that's where the RFA (request for approval) process kicked into place as well," Sajjan told reporters at a media conference in Edmonton.

"Support was needed, and it was authorized, literally, very quickly."

He said Parks Canada had received "all the resources that were requested" for fighting the Jasper fires, adding that there simply wasn't enough time to fully deploy the support needed.

"The situation had changed so drastically that nothing could have been done to prevent this, even with additional resources that would have been put into place," Sajjan said.

"It became about moving enough people out so they could be able to save lives."

Ellis described the Jasper wildfire situation as "very dynamic."

"It doesn't matter what the preparation is — when you're talking a 100-metre fire wall and you're talking about a fire that's moving five kilometres in a matter of 30 minutes, those firefighters from Parks Canada were there, and they were doing their job," he told media.

"They were doing the best that they could. I don't care how many firefighters we're talking about. When you're talking that level of catastrophe that is coming towards you, there's not much you can do about that."

4 p.m.: 5 mm of rain forecast to fall Thursday night

Environment and Climate Change Canada is calling for the rain falling on the Town of Jasper and the national park to end early this evening followed by a 60-per-cent chance of showers.

Wind from the west is forecast to gust 20-40 km/h before becoming light this evening, with a low of 7 C. Wind gusts are expected to return Friday morning with a 30-per-cent chance of showers and a high of 18 C.

3:45 p.m. MT: Ottawa deploys more resources

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a social media post that federal agencies are coordinated and are "sending resources to Jasper," including evacuations support and firefighting reinforcements.

The additional support comes following a call between Trudeau, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and staff.

2:30 p.m. MT: Phone services hampered by fire

Telus says some landline and cell phone services around Jasper are down due to wildfire damage to infrastructure.

Technicians are now working to restore services and priority is being given to restoring voice calls, including those to 9-1-1 and emergency services.

It says the company is securing helicopters to help get critical cell towers operational again.

— The Canadian Press

12:45 p.m. MT: Parks Canada update

"Multiple structures, including a number of businesses and homes, in and around the town of Jasper, have been lost" to wildfire, officials from Parks Canada and Jasper said.

However, they would not confirm the "30 to 50 per cent" estimate Alberta's premier made earlier in the day, with a spokesperson saying, "At this time, those are not numbers that we have from the incident side, so we cannot confirm or speak to that at this time."

They also would not provide a timeline for crews being able to assess and report back the extent of damage.

"Of course, it is one of the pressing issues for nearly all of our community right now. And yes, they are privy to posts on social media and other platforms. But until we can verify from people on the ground what is there, our stance is that it would be irresponsible to try and confirm things based on unverified facts," Jasper mayor Richard Ireland told reporters.

"I appreciate people see that as a frustration, but we need the information before we share it. And we fully appreciate that those on the ground have a challenging job at their hands right now still fighting the fire and protecting some of the homes that still are standing."

Pierre Martel with Parks Canada's national fire management program said he expects campgrounds and recreational areas south of Jasper were "significantly" damaged.

The fire that was sparked about eight kilometres south of Jasper Monday evening by a lightning strike fuelled up quickly because of the extended drought conditions, he said.

"By the time the fires were detected, we already had significant smoke columns and it was already beyond capacity for doing quick initial attack," he recalled.

By Wednesday, flames were 100 metres above the tree tops. Spotting – embers carried by the wind – allowed the blaze to move five kilometres in less than one hour.

"It's just a monster at that point. There is (sic) no tools we have in our toolbox to deal with that at that point. You get out of the way, you retreat, and you do what you can to protect communities and infrastructure as best as you can."

Martel's team has not been able to better assess the size of the fire, which he said is in the "tens of thousands of hectares" likely.

More structural firefighters are on their way to the town to assist those already there.

Wildland firefighters, who left Jasper Wednesday evening because they did not have the respiratory equipment to stay while structures were burning, have returned to the front lines.

In total, 20,000 people – the majority of whom were visitors – safely left Jasper and Jasper National Park by Wednesday.

11:30 a.m. MT: Premier and Alberta Wildfire update

There are 176 wildfires burning in Alberta's protected forests currently, 54 of which are burning out of control, Alberta Wildfire reported in a Thursday morning news conference.

That number does not include mutual aid fires such as the two near Jasper in which another agency – Parks Canada, in this case – is leading the fire response.

According to Alberta Wildfire public information officer Christie Tucker, 400 firefighters from Mexico, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand are due to arrive in Alberta between Thursday and Monday.

They, as well as military resources, will be deployed where they are needed most, Tucker said.

Speaking about the winds that quickly pushed the fires in Jasper National Park toward the townsite on Wednesday, Tucker said, "We're expecting more of those winds in the province today, which will raise the fire danger for those areas particularly that didn't get much rain."

Rain in parts of northern Alberta reduced "some" of the wildfire danger, she said, but it remains extreme in the northeast and south parts of the province.

Fighting tears, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told those listening to the press conference how she, like many Albertans, grew up going to Jasper with family.

"To those in Alberta and around the world who have experience the magic of Jasper, the magic is not lost and it never will be. Alberta's government will provide the support needed to families and community to recover and rebuild stronger so that future generations can continue to experience this one of a kind community and feel the magic of being able to come home."

She estimated the townsite had suffered "potentially 30 to 50 per cent structural damage."

Smith also told reporters she and her ministers would be speaking with their federal counterparts Thursday, including a call with the prime minister in the afternoon and a meeting with the federal minister of emergency preparedness in person in Edmonton.

8:30 a.m. MT: Update from Jasper mayor

"It's been a sleepless night, as I'm sure it has been for all of our evacuated residents," Jasper's mayor, Richard Ireland, told CTV Edmonton Morning Live.

He said support from people across Canada has helped him come to terms with the devastating news of at least some destruction.

"It is gratifying to know that people appreciate our community and are fully prepared to step up to help us rebuild," Ireland said.

Speaking about the toll the COVID-19 pandemic took on Jasper, he added, "We've learned to come together and work our way through that and that hopefully has prepared us to come together once again … as we start to face the really daunting prospect of rebuilding an entire community, perhaps."

7:10 a.m. MT: First government update

Officials are waiting to learn Thursday morning the extent of wildfire damage in the Jasper townsite of Jasper National Park, which flames began to eat away at the night before.

Firefighters that remained in Jasper overnight were working to save what buildings they could.

Alberta's forestry and parks minister said the government has not received any more information overnight but was expecting an update from Parks Canada later in the day.

"Obviously, it's a pretty dire situation over there, but still no extra information," Todd Loewen said.

In its last update Wednesday evening, Parks Canada said "significant loss" had occurred in the townsite.

Pictures on social media showed flames engulfing Maligne Lodge and encroaching on other buildings in the Canadian Rockies town.

Management at Fairmont's famous Jasper Park Lodge confirmed fire had reached that hotel's grounds, too, but did not know Wednesday evening what kind of damage had been caused.

"Our hearts go out to them. I can't imagine the trauma that it causes seeing something like that and those pictures," Loewen said.

"We don't know exactly what's been lost, but hopefully it's better than what we're thinking right now anyways."

The federal government has approved Alberta's request for military help.

Municipalities around the province are also sending crews and resources to Jasper.