Wildfires Raging in Jasper

Wildfires have entered the town of Jasper and the national park

It is absolutely tragic to see what is happening in Jasper, the town and the national park are on fire. The place is renowned for its picturesque landscape and a must-see place for visitors, but now the smoke has made the skies dark while the burning inferno is ravaging the forest and creeping into the town.

The situation is so dangerous that some crews fighting the fires have been ordered to evacuate.

"[The] air quality had deteriorated to the point that wildland firefighters and others without self-contained breathing apparatuses needed to evacuate to Hinton," Parks Canada said in a statement.

"Structural firefighters remain in town and are working to save as many structures as possible and to protect critical infrastructure, including the wastewater treatment plant, communications facilities, the Trans Mountain Pipeline and others."

There are fears some buildings have gone up in flames and worries that the fire has reached the Fairmont Jasper Lodge. 

Yesterday people living or visiting Jasper told harrowing stories of having only a few hours to evacuate, packing whatever they could and driving out towards British Columbia. Some 5,000 residents have evacuated along with 20,000 visitors, some of whom were hikers in Jasper National Park. 

Meanwhile Premier Danielle Smith sent out a tweet on X saying she is "heartbroken to see reports that the wildfire has entered the townsite of Jasper."

This coming from Smith who has little regard for climate change. Last June when wildfires erupted, she claimed they were ignited by arsonists, whereas experts said climate change has led to the susceptibility to wildfires happening earlier in the season.

Wang Xianli, a fire research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, said at the time climate change is a major factor.

"It creates longer drought spells in the fire season, and also fire season is going to start early and end late," he said. "It creates more opportunity for fire to ignite."

Today firefighters were unable to bring the fires under control, as their various strategies failed, from water buckets from helicopters, fireguards couldn't be completed, water bombers couldn't fly because of the dangerous flying conditions, and controlled burns didn't work.

Smith says her government will have more to say tomorrow... wonder what the excuse will be this time...