Bow Valley can't be fireproof, so officials work on resilience against future wildfire threats

When Jasper burned, the whole country felt it. 

If Banff burns, that too would leave a scar. 

Communities across the Bow Valley are in a similar boat. Their shared landscapes inspire widespread love of the outdoors. What makes them beautiful, makes them dangerous too. 

"We can't eliminate the risk, you know, especially in a changing climate with more extreme fire weather, extreme weather, wind, extreme fire behaviour," said Jane Park, Parks Canada Fire and Vegetation Specialist in Banff National Park.

Officials in the towns of Canmore and Banff, the municipal district of Bighorn, Parks Canada staff and residents came together in February to show what it takes to prepare for what some consider inevitable: the day a wildfire threatens one, or several of these communities. 

"In the last several years we've seen a lot of fires move 30-40 kilometres at a time," said Park. 

The drive between Canmore and Banff? On the highway it's a 25 kilometre shot. Canmore to Harvie Heights? Those communities are five kilometres apart. 

"Without all of us in collaboration, one weak link could affect our entire process," said Mike Bourgon, deputy chief of the Canmore Fire Department. "Wildfire remains a top rated hazard to life, property and critical infrastructure within and around the Bow Valley."

Mike Flannigan, a professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., says some communities are high risk locations when it comes to wildfire. Both Banff and Jasper are nestled in valleys. 

"Valleys are just like highways for fire."

Historically, naturally-occurring wildfires, and Indigenous cultural fire practices created a balance of trees, open space and forest regeneration.  

When Indigenous cultural fire practices were banned with the creation of Banff National Park, and fire suppression became the norm, forests became denser, which partly caused larger and more intense wildfires.

That calls for a shift: from extinguishing fires and using flames to manage overgrown forest – and even clear-cutting swaths of trees in an attempt to take away any potential fuel from future wildfires. 

The Lake Louise Community Fire Guard is just one example — a project that began in 2024, and won't be complete until 2027.