Scott Hayes | [email protected]
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Alberta is experiencing an unprecedented wildfire season.聽
As of Tuesday afternoon, the shows that the province has seen 409 wildfires this year already, with 82 active and 24 that are still out of control. There are an additional eight mutual aid wildfires, meaning wildfires that Alberta Wildfire is assisting with but is not the lead agency on.
All of this has led to the declaration of a provincial state of emergency. Several communities have been forced to evacuate with Drayton Valley, parts of Yellowhead County, Fox Creek, East Prairie Metis Settlement, Fox Lake and Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation remaining under mandatory evacuation orders as of Tuesday.
In East Prairie Metis Settlement, 27 homes have been lost to the fires with another 25 destroyed in Shining Bank and south of Wildwood and Evansburg.
The Jasper Fire Department sent its Structural Protection Unit and four members to assist with the wildfires in both Yellowhead and Parkland Counties. Teams from around the province have also been deployed to support the efforts.
More than 392,000 hectares of land has already been consumed by flame this year, a dramatic increase from the previous five-year average of nearly 542 hectares.
In Jasper National Park, one tree was struck by lightning at Wapiti Campground on Saturday. Parks Canada鈥檚 firefighting team soon extinguished it.
is always under a fire restriction and the fire danger rating is moderate. Wildfire smoke came through the valley on Saturday, May 6, though rain helped to dissipate it before the end of the weekend. The current air quality health index is two, according to the that tracks Jasper鈥檚 two local sensors.
Smoke will re-enter Jasper鈥檚 airshed intermittently as seen on the smoke forecast map found at .
On a positive note, Parks Canada conducted a high-resolution infrared scan on the north perimeter of the Chetamon wildfire on April 29. That area was considered the head of the wildfire leading into the winter, and smoke was observed there in mid-March.
鈥淪ince then, no fire activity has been reported or noted. The infrared scan was conducted twice over the entire north end of the fire perimeter and did not detect any remaining hotspots. Considering these results and the lack of smoke or fire activity, the Chetamon wildfire is now considered 鈥榰nder control鈥�,鈥� Parks Canada reported.
Other good news saw residents of Edson allowed to return home on Monday. Some of those evacuees spent their weekends in Jasper where Parks Canada allowed them free access and free stays at Whistlers Campground.
Jasper鈥檚 reception centre registered more than 600 evacuees.
Over the weekend, Jasper and Hinton were advised to prepare for extended power outages due to the imminent threat to Edson鈥檚 critical energy transmission infrastructure. That threat was later downgraded to coincide with the evacuation order lifting for Edson.
A joint team from the Municipality of Jasper and Jasper National Park held daily briefings for the evacuees at the Jasper Activity Centre.
Many found the hospitality of local residents to be a welcome salve for their troubled minds and hearts.
When approached in the parking lot across from the Activity Centre, one elderly couple (who wished to remain anonymous) wanted to offer their gratitude during the crisis.
鈥淭hose people have been amazingly wonderful,鈥� the man said.
鈥淭he volunteers here are above and beyond,鈥� the woman added.
The Government of Alberta has offered emergency payments to residents who have been displaced by wildfires. People can call 310-4455 or visit for wildfire-related information.
The current wildfire update for the Edson Forest Area states that the danger remains high. A fire ban and off-highway vehicle restriction are both in effect for all Forest Protection Areas in the province.
A press release from the Edson Forest Area indicated that most wildfires in its jurisdiction are due to recent dry lightning over the past week.聽
鈥淭his time of year, the trees are extremely dry as they have yet to absorb the moisture that they need,鈥� the statement read.
鈥淭hese are not normal conditions which is why we are witnessing an abnormal amount of fires igniting and spreading. The current hot and dry conditions are also contributing as we have been seeing crossover conditions over several consecutive days.
鈥淭his means that the humidity is lower than the temperature, making vegetation severely flammable which results in extreme fire behaviour.鈥�
Officials have also repeated their pleas for the public to refrain from using drones near wildfires. Doing so forces aircraft to be grounded and puts firefighters and others in danger. It is also illegal and could result in a Transport Canada fine of up to $15,000.
While Jasper and other parts of the province have seen some rainfall since the weekend, hotter temperatures are expected to return. The forecast for Jasper sees several continuous sunny days with the thermometer climbing close to 30 C over the weekend and beyond.
