Webcam footage from today @2:32 MST | Photo: Sunshine Village

Sunshine Village will close itself to the public and relocate its current guests to Banff hotels after fire officials decided it would be unsafe for guests to remain in the area.

Related: Destructive Wildfire Less Than 2 Miles From Banff’s Sunshine Village

Over the course of the next 24 hours Sunshine Village will transform from a place meant for tourists to kick back and relax to a full fledged staging area for fire crews to battle the 7,000+ acre fire. In their incident update, Parks Canada justified the closure saying, “this phase of work will see more helicopters and crews in the Sunshine Village area and may create additional smoke, therefore it is best that visitors not be in the area for the duration of the work.”

Right now the fire is moving southward, away from Sunshine Village but officials believe the increased smoke would pose a health risk to those staying the area.

“Starting Friday, July 21st, the Sunshine Mountain Lodge will be closed for approximately 2-5 days.”Sunshine Village Update

The new staging area will also allow fire crews to more effectively battle the blaze with less distance between support crews and those on the ground and in the air. The resort says that the fire does not pose a threat to the ski area’s physical property at this time.

Find the entire Parks Canada update here: Verdant Creek Fire

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