Thousands of residents and tourists have fled the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies after authorities warned wildfires were fast approaching, raising fears of another record fire season in the country.
Jasper National Park said early on Tuesday that “multiple wildfires” were burning in the park, located about 370km (230 miles) west of Edmonton in the western province of Alberta.
“We acknowledge this is a stressful time and appreciate patience as this is an evolving and complex situation,” the park said in a social media post.
It added that Parks Canada, which manages the country’s 48 national parks, “had aircraft out assessing the wildfires at first light to get eyes on wildfire activity and behavior, identify impacted infrastructure and set firefighting objectives for the day”.
⚠ The Town of Jasper and Jasper National Park have been evacuated due to active wildfires. ⚠
⚠ The Town of Jasper and Jasper National Park are closed and compliance with the evacuation order is critical. ⚠— Jasper National Park, Parks Canada (@JasperNP) July 23, 2024
Photos and videos shared on social media overnight showed a line of bumper-to-bumper cars and trucks crawling through smoke to try to get out of the park and the town of Jasper, home to 4,700 residents.
“It’s wall-to-wall traffic,” Edmonton resident Carolyn Campbell told The Associated Press news agency in a phone interview from her vehicle early on Tuesday.
Campbell said it took hours to move just 7km (about four miles), and while they had enough gas, she was worried for others who fled with little in the tank. “[The smoke] is pretty thick. We’ve got masks in the car,” she said.
In April, federal officials said Canada risked another “catastrophic” wildfire season amid higher-than-normal spring and summer temperatures across much of the country.
A heat wave descended last week, accentuating drought conditions, and several wildfires broke out.
The new blazes have prompted worries that the country could see another brutal wildfire season like last year’s record summer, which forced evacuations across the country and sent massive plumes of smoke into the United States.
More than 6,600 wildfires burned 15 million hectares (37 million acres) across Canada last year, an area roughly seven times the annual average.
Experts have said that climate change has extended the Canadian wildfire season and made it easier for blazes to start and spread.
About 170 fires were burning across Alberta on Tuesday, according to official figures, with about a third still uncontrolled.
Jasper National Park and town officials have scrambled to clear up traffic gridlock, find fuel for vehicles and help vulnerable people get to safety while marshalling resources to battle the fires.
Evacuees were told they had five hours to clear out and to carry with them key documents, pets, medication and any other emergency supplies.
BC will do everything we can to provide safe refuge for evacuees from Jasper and are working as quickly as possible to coordinate routes and arrange host communities on our side of the border. https://t.co/ENauwxoaX8
— Bowinn Ma (@BowinnMa) July 23, 2024
Fires threatening from the northeast have cut off highway access east to Edmonton.
Another fire roaring up from the south forced the closure of the north-south Icefields Parkway. That left one route open — west to the neighbouring province of British Columbia where officials scrambled to find places for people to stay.
“B.C. will do everything we can to provide safe refuge for evacuees from Jasper, and are working as quickly as possible to co-ordinate routes and arrange host communities on our side of the border,” Bowinn Ma, BC’s minister for emergency management, said in a social media post.
