Massive swiftly moving wildfires have destroyed nearly half of the historic Canadian town of Jasper with entire streets left in rubble as blazes continue to burn across the province of Alberta.
No deaths have been reported but 20,000 tourists and 5,000 residents have fled the mountainous area including this woman who was hiking solo through the Jasper National Park backcountry when she spotted the telltale plume of wildfire smoke coming from the direction she had intended to go. The woman determined she was no longer safe and hit the SOS button on her handheld GPS unit to alert rescuers of her location, triggering a helicopter evacuation.
The woman who goes by “Blonde in The Rockies” on TikTok documented the ordeal as the helicopter picked her up just in time as the wildfire closed in on her location. The flight back through the sepia toned smoke filled skies above Jasper National Park was truly ominous. When she landed in the town of Jasper she was met by a bus which transported her through the empty streets of the ravaged town to safety.
Jasper National Park authorities report the fires are still out of control and more warm weather was in the forecast. Our hearts go out to all effected by this disaster and we send our well wishes to all the brave people tasked with getting the wildfire under control. Find the latest update on the Jasper National Park Wildfire below:
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“What’s happening to Jasper is a tragedy. My heart goes out to all of the first responders and locals. Thank you to Jasper Parks, volunteers, search & rescue, Red Cross and Edmonton resources for their help evacuating us out after the situation escalated quickly on Monday.”
Landing in the town of Jasper and taking a bus through empty streets to safety:
Responding to questions about her decision to activate the SOS function on her Garmin inReach® Mini 2:
“Can’t recommend the Garmin inReach enough. Thanks again to jasper parks, sar responders and volunteers. My heart goes out to the entire town as the situation evolves.”
Jasper National Park Wildfire Press Release:
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 neighboring communities.
Estimated Jasper Fire Size Map (Estimated 36,000 Hectares):
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.
This area is now estimated at 36,000 hectares.
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.
Jasper Wildfire Complex
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.
This will be the last update for tonight, July 25. We will provide further updates and information tomorrow.
