Plans for Jasper re-entry take shape as hot weather threatens to reignite wildfire threat

Re-entry plans for thousands of people forced to evacuate from Jasper are taking shape even as rising temperatures this week threaten to reignite the wildfire threat to the devastated community. 

The emergency advisory committee for the Municipality of Jasper has approved a list of criteria that must be met before residents are allowed back, which was announced in a statement late Monday.

But there is no timeline for when it will be enacted. Until the threat to the community subsides, evacuation orders will remain in effect and the gates of Jasper National Park will remain closed to visitors, officials say. 

"Life safety will always remain the top priority, fire threat could require evacuation of the townsite at any point in the future," officials said in the statement Monday.

The criteria for re-entry include: mitigating hazards in the community created by the fire damage; restoration of at least a basic level of emergency services including fire, EMS, police, and 911 dispatch; re-establishing critical public services, including health care, utilities and public works, and the available of services like gas, groceries, banking and pharmacy services.

The fire is expected to burn for months and municipal officials cautioned that even when residents return home to Jasper, they should be prepared that the threat of fire could again force them out.

Last Monday, flames threatening from the north and south of town triggered a mass evacuation of the national park. In all, more than 25,000 visitors and residents were ordered out by flames fuelled by parched conditions and severe winds. 

By Wednesday evening, the fire advanced on the community, devastating one-third of the townsite Within hours, an estimated 358 out of 1,113 buildings in Jasper were destroyed. 

Wildfires within the Jasper townsite are out but the fire continues to burn out of control in the park. This week's return to hot, dry weather is expected to worsen the situation.

"It will drop the relative humidity, making it a little more challenging on the ground," said Alan Fehr, superintendent for Jasper Parks Canada, in a late Monday interview.

Recent rain and a break in the heat helped crews make progress in protecting the town, Fehr said.

"That's why we're taking advantage of all the personnel and all the resources that we have right now to try to get things in place for when that warm weather comes." 

Fehr said crews have been working to strengthen key defences around the townsite. Those efforts include a fireguard between Pyramid Lake and Highway 16, and a 30-centimetre high sprinkler system along the fireguard that surrounds the community.

Crews within the townsite are working to restore critical services, secure damaged properties and remove dangerous debris from the wreckage of burned buildings, Fehr said.