Wildfire threatening Jasper National Park and town prompts ...

Trevor Howlett · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 22, 2024 11:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

Residents and visitors in Jasper have been ordered to evacuate the area due to the threat of a wildfire located south of the town.

"Everyone in Jasper must evacuate now," the Alberta government said in alert.

The evacuation order applies to everyone in the townsite and national park. The alert, sent at 10:18 p.m. MT, said the fire was five hours from the community. But less than an hour later, another alert corrected the earlier message, saying the town should be evacuated in five hours, meaning by 3 a.m.

Those in the area were advised to head west on Highway 16 toward British Columbia and follow directions from local authorities.

Anyone needing transportation is advised to go to the Jasper Activity Centre, the Forest Park Hotel or Maligne Lodge. 

The Municipality of Jasper declared a state of emergency due to the wildfire Monday night.

RCMP said that Highway 16 will be closed for westbound travel at the Jasper Park gates on the east side. 

"RCMP are advising that travel is not recommended west of Hinton," reads a news release sent Monday night, adding that they are also advising people to refer to 511 Alberta for updated road closure information. 

Many roads in the Jasper area are closed. Parks Canada posted the following list of closures:

Highway 16 is closed at Highway 5. No traffic is permitted east. Traffic is permitted west. Highway 16 is closed at Highway 40. Highway 93 is closed at Saskatchewan Crossing to all traffic. Traffic south of Saskatchewan Crossing travel south. Traffic north of Saskatchewan Crossing travel north.

The post says all all traffic in Jasper must travel west.

The Municipality of Jasper said in a social media post early Tuesday that the Town of Valemount, B.C., has opened a reception centre at their community hall at 101 Gorse Street. Limited overnight lodging will be available. 

The municipality says it's working with the government of Alberta to establish a reception centre in a large city.

Thousands evacuated from homes in northern Alberta

About 7,500 people in Alberta were under evacuation orders as of Monday.

The three communities that make up Little Red River Cree Nation — John D'Or Prairie, Fox Lake and Garden River — remain under evacuation order as the out-of-control Semo Wildfire Complex burns nearby. It's estimated to be more than 96,000 hectares in size.

"The next 48 hours is pretty critical," Chief Conroy Sewepagaham said in a video update on Facebook.

"The dozer groups are going to be working 24/7. They're going to do whatever they can to extend Highway 58 toward High Level, and extending the northern portion of the highway going into Garden River."

Alberta Wildfire said the fire had reached Highway 58, the only road out of Garden River, and was 13 kilometres northwest of the community itself as of Monday afternoon.

Residents of the northern communities of Chipewyan Lake and Janvier 194 have also been ordered to leave.

In the Fort McMurray area, two large fires continue to burn out of control. MWF047 covers 105,515 ha and MWF077 is 19,112 ha. Both fires are just under seven kilometres away from industrial facilities, according to Alberta Wildfire. 

The two southern highways out of Fort McMurray are closed due to wildfires in the area. Part of Highway 63 north of Wandering River was closed in both directions near Township Road 722. Highway 881 between Conklin and Janvier is also closed.

According to the Alberta Wildfire Status Dashboard, there are 170 active wildfires burning across the province as of Monday night.

Environment Canada said cooler temperatures were expected to start moving into northwestern parts of the province starting Monday night, though hot conditions may persist through much of the week farther south.