Jasper National Park Wildfire

[heygrey]

Two days ago the entirety of Jasper National Park was issued an evacuation order which forced 15,000 visitors and 10,000 residents of the town of Jasper to flee in the middle of the night. Most of them drove west into British Columbia which is dealing with it's own fires and didn't have space to accommodate 25,000 new evacuees. 

Yesterday the fire approached the townsite of Jasper. This morning we are learning that multiple buildings have been lost. This is devastating for the environment and wildlife, not to mention the tourism that will be effected for years to come.  

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/wildfire-that-roared-into-jasper-was-a-wall-of-fast-moving-flame-says-fire-official-1.7274825

[loira]

This is heartbreaking. I grew up going to Jasper all the time and always tell people to go there instead of Banff. I read yesterday that evacuees were being redirected back to Alberta because a lot of the nearby BC towns are full with both tourists and other evacuees from BC's own fires.

[erbear]

Oh that’s heartbreaking. What a lovely part of the world. We have to address climate change like the emergency it is

[pixy0stix]

Devastating. From the article it looks like it should rain today?

[heygrey]

Jul 25, 2024 9:23:59 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Devastating. From the article it looks like it should rain today?

yessss. Over a large part of BC and the AB border which we desperately need. 

There are smaller fires near my house and the rain would be a huge boost to slow them down. I'm currently looking at heavy grey clouds and no wind. Just waiting for the rain. 

[aurora]

I saw this last night and it's devastating. Jasper is such a gorgeous and important area.

Western Canada can't get a break.

[audette]

From the bits and pieces I am hearing, it sounds like a lot of the town has been affected. Not sure if I can trust the things I'm seeing on SM yet, but they are posted by friends that are from Alberta. People I've known for nearly three decades... One was visiting Jaspar with his family, and they were part of the evacuation. They're all fine, but obviously a stressful situation.

[heygrey]

Jul 25, 2024 13:02:18 GMT -5 audette said:

From the bits and pieces I am hearing, it sounds like a lot of the town has been affected. Not sure if I can trust the things I'm seeing on SM yet, but they are posted by friends that are from Alberta. People I've known for nearly three decades... One was visiting Jaspar with his family, and they were part of the evacuation. They're all fine, but obviously a stressful situation.

I'm not seeing optimistic reports here. I have a friend who is a fire forecaster and can tell where the fire was last night. We're just waiting to see how many structures the firefighters were able to save. 

Having lived through a horrific fire last summer in my city, it is AMAZING what the firefighters can do. They are prepared with rooftop sprinkler systems to deploy over critical infrastructure. Last summer, the fire burned directly over an elementary school and and water treatment plant. Both were open a running less than two weeks after the fire passed. Through security cameras, we watched a firefighter fight the flames with a garden hose at the edge of someone's yard. Their house was saved. I am really really hoping that the men and women on the ground in Jasper last night had similar success. 

[Michelle]

Hate seeing this news. We went to Banff 8 years ago and drove up to Jasper on a day trip visiting falls all along the way. We all agreed we wanted to come back and actually stay there. I hope they can get the fires contained soon.

[audette]

It sounds like they may have saved some of the most crucial infrastructure, per this post from the park. Hospital, water treatment, and schools were protected.

www.facebook.com/share/p/PtgqQVfw895YSyTE/

From: www.facebook.com/JasperNP