Canada teams subdue Jasper fire but not nearby blazes
by AFP Staff Writers
Montreal (AFP) July 28, 2024

The wildfires that destroyed nearly a third of the beloved tourist town of Jasper in western Canada are now under control, but firefighters are still battling other nearby blazes that could go on for months, authorities said Sunday.

The fires, touched off Monday by lightning strikes in a drought-stricken area, are the biggest to hit vast Jasper National Park in a century.

Some 30 percent of the structures in the town of Jasper -- a popular tourist destination considered a scenic "jewel" of the Canadian Rockies -- have been destroyed, though no deaths have been reported.

"We are anticipating that all remaining fires within the townsite will be extinguished today," Parks Canada, the government agency that manages the country's national parks, said Sunday on X.

Around 25,000 residents and tourists were evacuated from Jasper beginning late Monday.

Parks Canada said teams working in Jasper on Sunday were continuing to secure the town's perimeter to prevent new outbreaks and protect critical infrastructure.

Firefighters -- their numbers bolstered by some 400 colleagues from New Zealand, Mexico and South Africa -- were using a helicopter to spot and extinguish any flare-ups.

Both the town and the national park remain under evacuation orders. Royal Canadian Mounted Police are patrolling the area, limiting access to "incident staff and critical contractors."

The town will be reopened only "when the risk of wildfire activity is significantly reduced," Parks Canada said.

But Landon Shepherd, an agency official, said bringing the fire under control throughout the national park would "not be easy."

Some 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) of forestland have gone up in smoke.

Throughout Alberta, 135 wildfires remained active on Sunday, about a quarter of them deemed out of control, Parks Canada said.

Some 185 miles (300 kilometers) to the south of Jasper, in British Columbia province, residents of Slocan, a village of some 600 houses, have also had to evacuate.

As in the United States, Canada's western region has been hard-hit by wildfires this summer.

Repeated heat waves and dry conditions, both likely linked to global climate change, are believed to be key factors, scientists say.

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