B.C. towns full, Jasper wildfire evacuees directed to Alberta

For an update on the wildfire situation in B.C., visit: Progress made on several B.C. wildfires but many still rage.

Buses have been dispatched to B.C. to pick up wildfire evacuees from Jasper and transport them back to Alberta.

British Columbians flung open their doors to welcome the evacuees, even as government officials warned space in the province was limited.

"The reality is British Columbia does not have the accommodations for those thousands and thousands of additional evacuees," said B.C.'s Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma, while emphasizing the province was doing everything it could to support Albertan residents and tourists making their way through the province.

Government officials say at least 10,000 people were forced to evacuate from the mountain town of Jasper and an estimated 15,000 visitors in the national park were told to leave late Monday night as wildfire advanced toward the community.

With highways east toward Edmonton and south to Banff closed, they were asked to take a mountain road along Highway 16 into British Columbia where traffic was bumper-to-bumper and slow moving.

The nearest community was Valemount, B.C., where a welcome centre was immediately set up and residents rallied to find space for people to rest.

Brian Oates is the manager of the Valemount Pines Golf & RV Park, which normally has a capacity of about 100. By Tuesday morning, he said, there were close to 600 people staying on his grounds.

"We said come here, stay with us as long as you need — we are here to help you and it's free of charge, as well," he said in an interview with CBC News.

"Seeing everybody coming here crying, they are upset and I'm glad we get to be able to brighten them up a little."

Valemount Mayor Owen Torgerson said the entire community of just over 1,000 people came together to help, from the grocery store opening its doors in the middle of the night, to residents opening up their living rooms and campgrounds. He himself spent some time directing traffic as hundreds of people began arriving in the dark.

"It takes a village," he said.

But even with that generosity, there was limited space in Valemount — and by 4:35 a.m. MT a notice on the municipality of Jasper's website was posted, telling evacuees that the community was full.

While drivers were asked to stop and rest as needed, those seeking official support from the Alberta government were directed to two emergency reception centres in Grande Prairie and Calgary.