Wildfire Threatens Jasper, Alberta

(Reuters) – A wildfire reached the Canadian town of Jasper, Alberta on Wednesday, amidst hundreds of others ravaging the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Firefighters are battling to save key facilities, such as the Trans Mountain Pipeline, authorities reported.

Current Situation

Wildfires are burning uncontrolled across the region, including:
– 433 in British Columbia
– 176 in Alberta

More than a dozen of these fires are in the Fort McMurray area, an oil sands hub.

The Trans Mountain Pipeline, which can carry 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Edmonton to Vancouver, traverses a national park in the Canadian Rockies near Jasper. Approximately 25,000 people were forced to evacuate from the town on Tuesday.

Parks Canada stated, “Firefighters … are working to save as many structures as possible and protect critical infrastructure, including the wastewater treatment plant, communications facilities, the Trans Mountain Pipeline.”

The pipeline operator did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment but previously confirmed that it was operating safely and had deployed sprinkler protection as a preventive measure.

Updates from Officials

Jasper National Park indicated it could not report on the extent of damage to specific locations or neighborhoods and promised further updates on Thursday.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government approved Alberta’s request for federal assistance, stating:

“We’re deploying Canadian Armed Forces resources, evacuation support, and more emergency wildfire resources to the province immediately – and we’re coordinating firefighting and airlift assistance. Alberta, we’re with you.”

The town and the park, which attracts more than two million tourists annually, were evacuated on Monday night. At that time, officials estimated there were 15,000 visitors in the park.

Deteriorating air quality forced firefighters and others lacking breathing equipment to evacuate to Hinton, about 100 km (62 miles) away, as per the Wednesday evening update from park authorities. Parks Canada earlier expected rain overnight.