Officials with Jasper National Park provided an update on the status of the Jasper Complex Wildfire and the current state of plans for re-entry to the townsite on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
According to the update, cooler weather and rain helped wildland firefighters with efforts to extinguish critical sections of the fire, including most hot spots on Pyramid Bench; however, the total size of the blaze is still estimated to be approximately 34,000 hectares. Crews say they have made progress in protecting critical infrastructure and utilities both in and out of the townsite.
The rain and cooler weather has also minimized the fire’s intensity, which crews say has allowed them to advance their fire suppression work. On Wednesday, crews say they will continue putting out hot spots near Marmot Basin as well as cleaning up debris around the Kerkeslin and Athabasca campsites, lakes Edith, Annette and Treefoil as well as Moberly and Sixth Bridges. Officials say their current goal is securing the northeast area of the fire in order to eliminate the threat to the townsite.
Officials say plans for re-entry are also being worked on with bus tours of the townsite already taking place. Critical retail services were also given supported access to the townsite in order to complete damage assessments. Crews say they are continuing to work on restoring utilities to the town site as well as hazard mitigation and debris removal on private property.
Any visitors who left important documents or medications in the townsite are being asked to contact Jasper Bylaw at bylaw@jasper-alberta.ca to arrange a retrieval. Officials note they will not be able to accommodate retrieval requests from residents at this time.
Commercial vehicles and evacuated residents returning to Alberta from BC continue to have limited access to Highway 16 as conditions allow. Officials say they are working on plans to fully re-open the highway and will post updates to 511 Alberta Website.
Officials say updates on re-entry progress will be posted to the Municipality of Jasper website as they become available.
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