Jasper wildfire: Wildlife returns, cooler temperatures help firefighters, province to provide update

Albertans will hear directly from officials on the province’s wildfire situation in a telephone town hall Monday night.

Those interested in hearing the update can tune in online or by phone at 1-833-380-0691. For the Jasper residents and visitors forced to flee to Calgary, the audio from the update will be streamed at the Shouldice Reception Centre at 1515 Home Road NW.

It’s scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. MDT.

Ahead of this, federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault and Parks Canada president and CEO, Ron Hallman, spoke to the wildfire situation at 11 a.m. MDT.

Alberta Wildfire officials will also give an update at 2 p.m.

660 NewsRadio Calgary will carry these updates live.

These updates come as the damage and destruction in the mountain town became more clear over the weekend, as an updated map outlined what is now ash and rubble.

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More than 350 buildings in Jasper are destroyed, while 70 per cent appear undamaged from the outside.

Cooler weather has given firefighters leverage in fighting back against the blaze, thought to be more than 32,000 hectares in size and burning in multiple directions.

“We’re going to be working on this wildfire, we expect, over the next three months at least. What the last five years has taught us is that the fire season is Jasper tends to last well into the fall,” said Landon Shepherd, an incident commander with Parks Canada.

With all the destruction, it can be easy for residents to feel hopeless. Stavro Korogonas, the owner of Jasper Pizza Place, says that’s not an option for him.

“Jasper’s going to come back, Jasper going to be there. It’s going to be different but it’s going to be good again. Let’s go back and rebuild Jasper — there’s no other choice for a lot of us,” he said. “I think my house is gone but I have a business that is still there, I have something to go back to, I have something to work towards and to rebuild around.”

There is no solid timeline for when people will be able to return to the town, but pictures posted online from Parks Canada show wildife has already begun coming back to Jasper.

And in a turn of good news, the park say a familiar face has managed to survive the destruction.

Jasper National Park officials say ‘Grizzly bear 222,’ a frequent visitor in the area around Jasper Park Lodge remains a “very healthy grizzly bear,” eating berries and clover on the edge of the Jasper Park Lodge golf course.

According to data collected by a GPS tracking collar, in the moments leading up to the extreme wildfire activity last Wednesday, Grizzly bear 222 and her cubs tucked themselves into a wet spot by the Athabasca River to stay safe.

“Fire is a natural process and we expect animals to find new places to live,” James McCormick, Human-Wildlife Coexistence Specialist with Parks Canada said. “We have a team of 18 people managing wildlife in and around the town of Jasper. Because of all the fire and things that have been damaged, we’re looking at trying to manage garbage, food waste and spoiled food. We’re also out trying to look for any animals that were physically impacted by the fire and we have seen some that perished to the fire.”

Parks Canada staff are working to clean up human food and garbage exposed by the fire, evacuation, and fire-fighting activities.

Officials say bears can be extra aggressive when they are defending a significant source of food.

At least one grizzly has been seen feeding on the carcass of an animal, it adds.

“One characteristic of a burned forest is that you can see quite a distance. We should have better opportunities to see if there are bears or a carcass in the area,” McCormick said. “Always stay at least 200 meters from a bear on a carcass.”

Parks Canada says the wildfire will have lasting impacts on animals and their movements, and officials will work to make sure this doesn’t pose a risk before allowing residents to come back.