–Files by Ethan Montague, My Grande Prairie Now
On the heels of the evacuation of Jasper National Park and the municipality within it, fire officials are suggesting wildfire activity could pick up in the coming days.
Central Peace-Notley MLA and Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen calls the past few weeks of summer “tough” and suggests that more challenging days could come as wildfires continue to ravage northern Alberta.
“The past few weeks have been tough, while there is rain expected in parts of the province this week, the forecast calls for more hot, dry weather meaning we will likely have more hard days ahead of us,” he says.
According to the provincial government, around 170 active wildfires are burning throughout the province, with more than 50 being considered “out of control.” As a result, an estimated 17,500 Albertans have been evacuated across the province, with around 10,000 coming from Jasper.
Alberta Wildfire Information Unit Manager Christie Tucker says the province has provided supports in conjunction with those coming from Parks Canada in Jasper; however, winds moving in from British Columbia have led officials to anticipate more intense wildfire behaviour in the coming days.
“We’re preparing for challenging conditions as a cold front moves in from BC and the winds are going to shift,” she says. “This will change the intensity of several wildfires in Alberta, as well as the direction they are moving.”
She adds that wildfire response in Jasper is one of Alberta Wildfire’s “top priorities” due to its proximity to the municipality and infrastructure in the park.
Overnight, Alberta Wildfire provided firefighters on the ground and aircraft to take the fight to the skies, and Tucker says additional support systems are on standby.
“We’ve already provided support overnight from aircraft to staff to wildfire intelligence, today we have firefighters and aircraft on standby that are ready to help in Jasper if needed,” she says.
The Town of Jasper reports they were at maximum occupancy at the time of the evacuation order, with Parks Canada reporting an estimated 15K visitors to the park during the evacuation. Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for the Government of Alberta Stephen Lacroix says numbers will continue to be finalized as residents register as evacuees in the coming days.
Evacuation centres have been set up in Calgary and Grande Prairie, and Lacroix explains the reasoning for the two cities chosen simply comes down to a lack of availability in British Columbia as they continue dealing with wildfires and evacuations of their own.
“The issue is the severity of wildfire activity and evacuations in BC proper,” he says. “British Columbia has been very gracious in the facilitation of the movement of Albertans through their province and helping us with the collection point in Valemount, but they have no capacity to house Albertans.”
Grande Prairie’s reception centre at Bonnetts opened at 9:00 a.m. on July 23rd for evacuees.
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