People forced to leave Jasper National Park in western Alberta on Monday are talking about what it was like to flee after a wildfire evacuation order was issued at this busy time of year for the area.
“It’s wall-to-wall traffic,” said Carolyn Campbell, of Edmonton, in a phone interview with The Canadian Press from her vehicle.
“(The smoke) is pretty thick. We’ve got masks in the car.”
The mountainous park normally sees full hotels and campgrounds in mid-July. Richard Ireland, the mayor of the Municipality of Jasper, spoke to Global News about the situation Monday night and said officials “want people to remain in an orderly state as much as possible.”
“Wildfire is an unfolding event, things can change rapidly. We take the best information that we can get from those on the front lines, and of course we want to prevent any sense of alarm or panic.”
Ireland was speaking from Crossfield, Alta.
Officials issued an evacuation order at about 10 p.m. local on Monday amid a provincewide heat wave and as parts of Alberta were experiencing windy conditions. The entire park, including the townsite, was included in the evacuation order.
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People were told they needed to be out of the park by 3 a.m. local time and a local state of emergency was declared.
Sebastien Delorme, who works in the national park, told Global News there has been more fire activity in Jasper recently.
“We actually had one at our workplace about three days ago that they put out in about 20 minutes, so fires are not an unnormal thing in Jasper,” he said. “But to see it come through with an actual evacuation order is definitely a little bit intense.
“We do know that there’s a very high fire risk in Jasper, so we were kind of expecting it. But of course, when you actually hear an evacuation, it’s definitely a bit of a shock.”
People in Jasper were told to head west on Highway 16 towards British Columbia. Officials said reception centres are being set up for evacuees in Calgary and Grande Prairie.
People were told they could go to Valemount, B.C., but officials said that community has little ability to offer additional services to evacuees and would not have a reception centre, though a welcome centre has been set up there.
In a Facebook post shortly before 3 a.m., Jasper Park officials said “multiple wildfires” in the park have created an “evolving situation.”
“Parks Canada fire personnel will continue assessing the wildfires at sunrise,” they said. “Parks Canada has mobilized resources to arrive Tuesday morning, including a Parks Canada incident management team and additional firefighting resources and aircraft.
“We will provide information on backcountry areas when it is available, and will work to ensure that those in the backcountry can leave, or are evacuated, safely. If you have a way of contacting those in the backcountry, they should remain in place, at a designated campsite if possible.”
For the latest information on which areas in Alberta are under an evacuation alert or order due to a wildfire, visit the Alberta Emergency Alert website.
For the latest information on the wildfire status and danger across the province, visit the Alberta Wildfire website.
The latest information on fire advisories, restrictions and bans across the province can be found on the Alberta fire bans website.
For the latest on road closures in Alberta, you can visit the 511 Alberta website.
— With a file from The Canadian Press
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