Crews continue to remove debris from Jasper as wildfires continue to burn

In a wildfire update Saturday, Parks Canada said there was an increase in wildfire activity Friday afternoon in Jasper National Park.

Dean MacDonald, the deputy incident commander for Parks Canada noted that officials had predicted that to happen.

The largest increase in fire activity was near the road by Kirkeslin, along the banks of Maligne Canyon, and Edith Lake.

MacDonald noted despite the increased fire activity in those areas, crews were able to provide some firefighting efforts, and they aren’t a concern at the time being.

Parks Canada also noted the wildfire size was back down to around 32,000 hectares after being remapped.

As for Saturday, officials say they are expecting the same level of fire activity or more, as Alberta continues to be hot and dry.

Crews are still working to clear debris from the wildfire that rolled through part of Jasper, and officials say work has been done to maintain water levels in the north end of the town near the fire break — which is located along Moline Avenue near Centennial Park and down towards the hospital.

“That was kind of the defensive line that we held through the town. Everything south of that line was the damaged area of town and north of that line, what we’re calling the green zone, was the undamaged section of town from fire,” said MacDonald.

Mathew Conte, the Jasper fire chief explained that the choice to set up the fire line in that area was not planned, however, it was where they were able to set up all their crews.

“The defense line was just in an impromptu area that we were actually able to position all of our units to actually hold that fire back from spreading throughout the town,” explained Conte.

“Miette Avenue is kind of a dual-lane with a bit of a median in between, so it provided a pretty natural defense break through the town … So it gave us some more of a natural area to work from and anchor from to hold that fire back.”

Some of the water lines in the south part of Jasper had been damaged, and crews have collected water samples to see if it’s potable.

This comes as nearly 35 firefighters from Atlantic Canada are heading to Alberta on Sunday to join the battle against the Jasper wildfires.

The teams from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island will help crews fighting the out-of-control blaze at Jasper National Park, which spread into the townsite last week and destroyed one-third of its buildings.

The blaze forced thousands of people to flee the park and community.

Residents whose homes have been damaged or destroyed can register for a bus tour of the townsite, the province said on Friday, but it’s unclear which day the tour will happen.

All Jasper residents are eligible to register, however, priority will be given to those who have had property lost or damaged.

Officials note that the tours will still be subject to wildfire conditions.

Additionally, reception centres continue to be open in Calgary, Edmonton, Grand Prairie, and Edson for evacuees.

Highway 16 through Jasper continues to be open at specific times of day for commercial vehicles to travel between Hinton and Valemount, pending the fire risk.

Listen to 660 News Radio for the latest and updated coverage of the wildfire situation in Alberta.