Wildfire threatening Jasper National Park and town prompts evacuation order
CBC
Residents and visitors in Jasper have been ordered to evacuate the area due to the threat of a wildfire located south of the town.
"Everyone in Jasper must evacuate now," reads the order.
The evacuation order is for everyone in the townsite and the national park. An alert sent at 10:18 p.m. MT said the fire was headed toward the community and was expected to reach it in about five hours. But less than an hour later, another alert said the fire wouldn't reach the community in that time frame. Rather the town should be evacuated in five hours.
Those in the area are advised to head west on Highway 16 toward British Columbia and follow directions from local authorities.
Anyone needing transportation is advised to go to the Jasper Activity Centre, the Forest Park Hotel or Maligne Lodge.
The Municipality of Jasper declared a state of emergency due to wildfire Monday night.
RCMP said that Highway 16 will be closed for west bound travel at the Jasper Park gates, on the east side.
"RCMP are advising that travel is not recommended west of Hinton," reads a news release sent Monday night, adding that they are also advising people refer to 511 Alberta for updated road closure information.
Many roads in the Jasper area are closed. Parks Canada posted the following list of closures:
The post says all all traffic in Jasper must travel west.
About 7,500 people in Alberta were under evacuation orders as of Monday.
The three communities that make up Little Red River Cree Nation — John D'Or Prairie, Fox Lake and Garden River — remain under evacuation order as the out-of-control Semo Wildfire Complex burns nearby. It's estimated to be more than 96,000 hectares in size.
"The next 48 hours is pretty critical," Chief Conroy Sewepagaham said in a video update on Facebook.
"The dozer groups are going to be working 24/7. They're going to do whatever they can to extend Highway 58 toward High Level, and extending the northern portion of the highway going into Garden River."