Things could have been worse without decades of fire prevention efforts, says Jasper mayor

Decades of work to safeguard the community of Jasper against the threat of wildfires is being widely hailed for saving the town from total destruction.

During a news conference Monday, federal officials and the town's mayor applauded the work of firefighters and decades of parks staff in helping to prevent further damage to the historic townsite. 

"This is a success," Mayor Richard Ireland said in a news conference Monday. "We fortified our community and I credit Parks Canada for the work that they did on the landscape to protect our town.

"When the attack came, those defences worked," said Ireland, who lost his own home to the flames. "We suffered casualties, absolutely, and it is so incredibly hurtful, but we did hold our ground."

One week ago, 25,000 visitors and residents were ordered to flee the park as fires burning to the north and south flared dangerously amid high winds and dry conditions. On Wednesday, flames crossed the south edge of town, consuming entire neighbourhoods. By morning, one-third of the town's structures were in ashes.

Early estimates suggest the wildfire could cost the insurance industry up to $700 million, making it one of the most expensive wildfire disasters in Canadian history. 

Despite the losses and the daunting rebuild ahead, Ireland said things could have been much worse without years of preventative work including the thinning out of diseased forests and prescribed burns.

No one was harmed and the majority of the structures in the community remain standing. 

"They ...saved 70 per cent of our town, " he said. "They did that because of their work on the ground, and they did that because of the wisdom and foresight that they had to create those defences for us."

During Monday's news conference, Ron Hallman, Parks Canada president and CEO, said crews on the frontline faced "hell on Earth" conditions, despite having every resource needed to fight the fire.

The wall of flames they faced was unstoppable, he said.

"The fire was 300 metres high, 100 metres above the trees, projecting burning pine cones and debris," he said. 

"There is nothing any human on Earth, or any piece of equipment, could have done standing in front of that wall of fire that would have allowed them to stop it. It's just not possible." 

Hallman said the agency has been conducting prescribed burns in the park since 1996 and that a FireSmart program has been in effect since 2003.