Evacuees from Jasper, Alta., clog the highway early Tuesday morning. Multiple wildfires in Jasper National Park flared up late Monday night, forcing all park visitors along with the 4,700 residents of the Jasper townsite to flee west with little notice over mountain roads through darkness, soot, and ash.
Parks Canada staff say aggressive fire behaviour prompted the decision to have thousands of people flee the Jasper area late Monday night.
When asked how the fire was able to come so close to the townsite before the alert was sent, incident commander Katie Ellsworth recounted a rapidly evolving situation leading up to the evacuation order. About 30 minutes after going out to suppress that fire, they received another report of a wildfire south of the townsite near Kerkeslin campground, Ellsworth said.
"Unfortunately, due to the weather conditions at the time and the gusting strong winds, it was really quickly very apparent that life safety needed to come first and we needed to begin evacuation immediately," Ellsworth said. "Tons of smoke. Really thick smoke, hard to breathe, uncomfortable hot, lots of uncertainty," LeBlanc said of the escape.
The evacuation of hikers in Jasper's backcountry is ongoing, Ellsworth said, with helicopters picking up hikers and campers in safe landing zones.
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