Hd Today Canada

[Namuncura Mckoy]

Todaythe Municipality of Jasper released its initial damage assessment of structures in town. We express our deepest condolences to everyone who experienced losses. Mental health resources are available to help support you through this challenging time. Please see the Municipality's web page for more information.

Visible structural hot spots within the town of Jasper have been extinguished. Firefighters continue to patrol for any fire activity with warmer weather and stronger winds. An early morning infrared scan of the town will be done overnight to provide firefighters with the gps coordinates of any hidden hot spots to put out.

A night vision helicopter from Alberta Wildfire has been requested. This specialized piece of equipment allows bucketing to happen through the night when wildfire activity is lower. It also allows the Unified Command to receive real-time information about the status of the fire overnight.

Bulldozers are preparing to put protection lines around the north end of the community and to help reduce spread west of the community on the lower slopes of Whistler mountain. Areas under consideration also include widening existing fire guards to ensure no further damage to the community.

There was no visible smoke today on the lightning-caused Utopia wildfire high above Utopia Pass near Miette Hot Springs, originally reported on the evening of July 18. This wildfire will continue to be monitored to ensure it poses no risk to any infrastructure. Structural protection equipment from the Miette area is being relocated to the wildfire that continues to threaten infrastructure north of the town of Jasper.

Given how quickly the wildfire spread to town, many residents were unable to get home before evacuating and have been in turmoil over leaving pets behind. 15 pets have been rescued so far. The Hinton and District SPCA donated their van, pet food and is providing shelter until these pets can be reunited with their families. For individuals who may have left pets behind, the Bylaw Officer will take them to Hinton. You can call or text 780-852-5518 for updates.

We know that many evacuees are hoping to be able to travel through Jasper National Park from the Valemount area to Hinton in order to reunite with friends and family. Teams are developing a plan to facilitate this, and we will share more information as soon as it is available.

We are receiving reports of increased numbers of violations to the closure of Jasper National Park along the Icefields Parkway. While, at this time, there is no risk of wildfire in these areas, it is critical that visitors do not enter the park at this time to reduce exposure to unseen risks such as wildfire smoke contaminants.

There are no services available in the park and all resources are engaged in responding to the Jasper Wildfire Complex. Parks Canada Dispatch operations have been impacted, search and rescue services are unavailable, and no road rescue response is possible. If you experience an emergency, contact Parks Canada Dispatch at 780-852-6155.

In addition to the Unified Command of Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper, many agencies are providing resources to assist the response efforts. This includes personnel from Alberta Wildfire, RCMP, the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, the Canadian Armed Forces, ATCO Power, Telus, CN Rail, numerous municipal fire departments and many many more. We are grateful to our partners, the town of Hinton and businesses for all of the support during this continued incident.

Yesterday, an initial aerial survey of the perimeter was conducted and the fire size has been revised down to approximately- 32,000 hectares. This makes it the largest wildfire in more than 100 years in Jasper National Park

Crews are working along the perimeter closest to town and are planning for the creation of containment lines. Teams are focusing on securing spot fires in priority areas such as the Pyramid Bench Area near the townsite.

Currently, reservations up until August 6 have been cancelled for front country and backcountry camping, as well as forParks Canada accommodations. This date will be reassessed once assessments of the Jasper townsite and outlying infrastructure have been completed.

There is no need for further action on the part of visitors for cancellations and refunds for Parks Canada campgrounds and accommodations. Refunds will be handled through the Parks Canada Reservation System automatically, this will ensure that you receive a full refund.

We are receiving reports of increased numbers of violations of the closure of Jasper National Park along the icefields parkway. While, at this time, there is no risk of wildfire in these areas, it is critical that visitors do not enter the park at this time.

There are no services available in the park as all resources are engaged in responding to the Jasper Wildfire Complex. Jasper Dispatch operations have been impacted, search and rescue services are unavailable, and no road rescue response is possible. If you experience an emergency, contact Parks Canada Dispatch at 780-852-6155.

Damage within the townsite is estimated at around 30%. Out of a total of 1113 structures within the town, 358 have been destroyed. However all critical infrastructure in Jasper were successfully protected including the hospital, the library and the firehall. We are grateful to our responders efforts to contain the fire, minimize the damage and begin to restore essential utilities.

The priority for the 154 firefighters in Jasper is to put out any hot spots in the outskirts of Jasper and in the trees directly surrounding the town of Jasper and all structures. Cooler conditions are reducing fire behaviour as showers tapered off overnight. Winds are anticipated to reach up to 30 km/h and may increase fire activity.

Assessments of infrastructure damages is ongoing. The damage within the townsite is estimated at around 30%. Out of a total of 1113 structures within the town, 358 have been destroyed. All critical infrastructure in Jasper was successfully protected including the hospital, emergency services building, both elementary and junior/senior schools, activity centre and wastewater treatment plant. We are grateful to our wildfire teams efforts to contain the fire and minimize the damage.

The outline shown in the map represents an estimate of the furthest area burned, not what is currently burning. It is important to note that this is an estimate and will change. Within the estimated perimeter there will be areas completely burned, partially burned and areas which did not burn at all.

Residents and businesses of the town of Jasper, we understand that this is an incredibly difficult and challenging time but our priorities remain addressing the active fire and assessing structural damage in the community. We are happy to report all critical infrastructure has been saved. We appreciate how hard it is to wait for confirmation about your homes.

Temperatures cooled and rain started shortly after midnight last night. The 10-15 mm of rainfall in the national park has led to minimal fire behaviour and spread today. This precipitation will likely keep fire behaviour low for the next 72 hours.

Crews will take advantage of this time to make as much progress as possible to suppress the wildfire and reduce further spread. While rain in Jasper is a welcome sight, warm weather is forecasted and will increase wildfire activity. Currently the Jasper Wildfire Complex poses no threat to neighbouring communities.

Accurately mapping the Jasper Wildfire Complex has been challenging for many reasons including strong winds, extreme fire behaviour, smoke and relocating the incident management personnel to Hinton on the evening of July 24. Aircraft have not been able to fly safely and today satellite imaging was obscured by thick cloud cover.

The map included in this update shows the estimated perimeter of what we originally named the North and South Wildfires. This map is a best available estimate based on satellite imaging and what crews have been able to see from the ground. Future maps will change when we can map the perimeter from the air. Because the perimeter of the two wildfires have met, we are now referring to wildfires in Jasper National Park as the Jasper Wildfire Complex.

The levels of fire activity within the mapped perimeters can vary widely. In the event that the fire perimeters overlay areas where property or infrastructure is present, the perimeters do not indicate what level of damage (if any) may have occurred. This information should only be used for reference purposes.

A complex refers to more than one wildfire. The Jasper Wildfire Complex now includes the combined North and South wildfires and the Utopia wildfire near Miette Hot Springs that started on July 19. The Utopia Wildfire was almost being held before the other wildfires started and will be reassessed on Friday, July 26.

The Unified Incident Command Post is fully operating in Hinton. We wish to express gratitude to the Town of Hinton and their residents for all of their support. Unified Command means that responsibility for the response is shared among multiple agencies. Managing this emergency under Unified Command creates a safer and more effective environment to work in. All agencies know where resources are and what they are being used for. They can use all available resources and work in tandem rather than working around each other.

Structural fire protection units are still fighting fires within the town and continue to deal with fire moving from one building to another. We appreciate your patience as we work to make conditions in the town safe enough for a detailed assessment to be completed.

Incident Command is able to confirm that all critical infrastructure in Jasper was successfully protected including the hospital, emergency services building, both elementary and junior/senior schools, activity centre and wastewater treatment plant.

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