With Jasper's devastation in mind, Alberta communities gear up for wildfire season

Adrienne Lamb · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 24, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Memories of the demolition wrought by a wildfire that roared done Jasper National Park past summertime are fuelling wildfire prevention efforts crossed the region.  

The July 2024 wildfire destroyed one-third of the structures successful Jasper's historic townsite, 365 kilometres westbound of Edmonton. 

"The concern we watched past summertime was perfectly devastating," says Nicholas Nissen, politician of Hinton, Alta., a municipality 80 kilometres eastbound of Jasper. 

Since then, galore displaced Jasperites person been calling the municipality of 10,000 home. 

"I'm definite those radical consciousness tense erstwhile they look retired astatine a large wood and spot a summertime coming."

That's portion of the crushed Nissen says they're digging successful this outpouring to prepare for the worst by reinforcing the firebreak southbound of town.

"You tin spot astir america — the writer grows, the shrubs grow, the trees turn up truthful those firebreaks request to beryllium re-done," Nissen said this week, pointing to a instrumentality mulching the 58-hectare fireguard.

Hinton's occurrence chief, Jim Smith, said he's "feeling truly good" astir above-average moisture levels this winter. However, helium notes that things are already heating up.

"A mates days agone we had 7 fires, six of those were wildland fires," helium says, "One aft another, 1 aft another. And past astatine the extremity of it, we had a bid connected occurrence connected rails," Smith said. 

WATCH | Communities adjacent Jasper on borderline this spring:

Earlier this month, officials with Alberta Wildfire predicted an mean play and Todd Loewen, curate of forestry and parks, said helium was "cautiously optimistic." Nonetheless, provincial occurrence crews and unpaid firefighters are gearing up and grooming up.

"It doesn't substance what benignant of twelvemonth it is," said Tyler Olsen, reeve of the Municipal District of Greenview, located northbound of Jasper National Park. "When you're surrounded by trees there's ever that risk."

Olsen is based successful Grande Cache, Alta., a assemblage of 3,200 located about 200 kilometres northwest of the Jasper townsite.

He has spent fractional his beingness arsenic a unpaid firefighter connected the beforehand lines and said helium felt "spoiled" with by Grand Cache's cogwheel and its station, which was built successful 2020. "We conscionable got a caller sprinkler trailer this twelvemonth truthful that brings the full up to three." 

The different happening Olsen says they person going for them is friendships forged portion warring wildfires crossed the province. 

"We were successful Fox Creek, Edson, High Level, each those places. You cognize that they, connected the driblet of a hat, erstwhile they perceive Grande Cache, they'll beryllium here." 

Olsen said the unit from Grande Cache had a manus successful redeeming the country astir the Jasper Park Lodge past summer. 

David Argument, the assets conservation manager with Parks Canada successful Jasper, said crews person been connected the crushed each winter. The goal, helium said, is to interrupt how fire could spread in the parkland this season.

He said crews person cleared 2 ample blocks, astir 116 hectares successful total, located westbound of town. "Logging instrumentality is removing each lasting conifer and spruce, which are a fire-prone species," Argument said.

They're leaving Douglas fir and Aspen stands, which Argument called "very occurrence resistant, oregon occurrence resilient, species."

Argument besides said determination are 2 archetypal onslaught teams, oregon 8 people, positive an further 20 Parks Canada unit members acceptable to combat fires. As well, they cognize they tin trust connected astir 30 volunteers with the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade if request be.

Argument said that, arsenic a Jasperite, helium is astatine times inactive caught by the calamity of the situation and the agelong betterment roadworthy ahead. 

"But astatine the aforesaid time. We're going to spot it greenish up this outpouring and it's going to beryllium truly absorbing to watch."