Jasper Evacuated due to wildfire

[Lumby Lager]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Anyone know if it has hopped the river?

It was on both sides of the river when they evacuated the park.

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

I wonder if the rain saved the entire town from being consumed, or is this just the randomness of wildfires? Or of course the possibility that the firefighters saved some of the town.

How much rain did they get? I would have to think it would be days of torrential rain the likes of 2013, for it to make any impact on that area. I'd imagine the rain was negligible to the firefighting efforts & in the grand scheme of things when compared to the strength of the fire. To put a visual on it, it would be like an ant standing atop Mt Robson, pissing into the wind, yelling "I'm helping!"

[pepper24]

Yikes, news article from 2018 kind of predicting this due to the pine beetle. Such a great town and always had a good time there.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...ents-1.4748187

But in the meantime, some Jasper residents are increasingly worried about not just the esthetics of red, rusty forests, but also the fire hazards that accompany several square kilometres of dry trees.

"The people in Jasper aren't saying they're wondering if the town's going to burn down, it's when the town is going to burn down," said Jasper resident David Millar.

Carroll said the wildfire threat is an expected consequence of pine beetle infestations.

"Killing a bunch of trees means that not far down the road, those trees will be available as fuel for wildfire," he said. "So their biggest focus, once the beetle has run its course, is going to be managing for wildfire."

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Minnie

How much rain did they get? I would have to think it would be days of torrential rain the likes of 2013, for it to make any impact on that area. I'd imagine the rain was negligible to the firefighting efforts & in the grand scheme of things when compared to the strength of the fire. To put a visual on it, it would be like an ant standing atop Mt Robson, pissing into the wind, yelling "I'm helping!"

It has only just started raining now, according to my app. And I doubt it will make much of a dent. In fact, if there's more lightning, it could be worse.

[OutOfTheCube]

Terrible, I hadn't been there for many years since I was a child and I was saying to my wife maybe we should do our next summer trip up there. Can't imagine how scary it must be to get that call that it's time to leave NOW.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

I wish I had visited Jasper more often.

The last time I was there was in the mid-80s with my late wife - we had just started dating. This makes me sad on multiple levels.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

Terrible, I hadn't been there for many years since I was a child and I was saying to my wife maybe we should do our next summer trip up there. Can't imagine how scary it must be to get that call that it's time to leave NOW.

Yeah, it'd be weird if you were camping or something because the call came at, like, 10pm, didn't it? I'd be drunk and high. I guess you just have to hop in the truck and drive at that point, but damn.

[3thirty]

I used to go a lot as a kid when my dad would be at conferences at JPL. Just last month I said to my wife that we need to take our kids to Jasper soon

[fotze2]

Only memory of Jasper was being at some restaurant with my family at 4-6 years old and was rocking my chair back and forth and it fell backwards with me in it and it was embarrassing and my dad said Jesus Fataing Christ.

#interestingstory

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Sorry, what?

Thought it was pretty straightforward, but anyway… it sounds like some of the structures and town was spared. So my question was did the rain that finally kicked in curb the fire a bit, or was it moreso the measures from the firefighters. I think the expectation was the entire town was going to be destroyed.

Edit- as you alluded to, seems like the small amount of rain only started after the fact, so wasnt a factor.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Thought it was pretty straightforward, but anyway… it sounds like some of the structures and town was spared. So my question was did the rain that finally kicked in curb the fire a bit, or was it moreso the measures from the firefighters. I think the expectation was the entire town was going to be destroyed.

Last update last night said that it rained at the gates but not in town. It also didn't call for enough rain to make much of a difference.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Thought it was pretty straightforward, but anyway… it sounds like some of the structures and town was spared. So my question was did the rain that finally kicked in curb the fire a bit, or was it moreso the measures from the firefighters. I think the expectation was the entire town was going to be destroyed.

Edit- as you alluded to, seems like the small amount of rain only started after the fact, so wasnt a factor.

Ya, not enough rain. Typically I think the only thing that saves places in these types of events is wind shifts. If the wind was blowing from the south, and switched to the north, the fire ends up being blown back on itself with far less fuel to burn, so it can reduce the intensity, and obviously the direction of movement.

[Royle9]

Friend of a friend is part of the team fighting the fire in Jasper.
Its so sad, I cant imagine losing your home/livelihood to something like this.

Japser is basically the Banff of Edmonton, I'd be devastated if we lost Banff and all that history.

With that said, please don't trust those maps being circulated as I've been told that's going to lead to false hope. It's much worse than what we've seen thus far.

[Bigtime]

Looks like the JPL may have gotten off relatively unscathed:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1816612024559849907

[GioforPM]

The Lodge is right against a lake and has a pretty wide road on the other side as well as a pretty open golf course. For being in Jasper, relatively few trees. So that’s a plus for it I guess.

[Skaloper]

Note sure how to embed but heres a video from the east side of whats still left on main road!

https://x.com/Lindsay_Warner/status/1816602590102376659

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by skaloper

note sure how to embed but heres a video from the east side of whats still left on main road!

https://x.com/lindsay_warner/status/1816602590102376659

https://twitter.com/user/status/1816602590102376659


You type [TWEET]TheReallyLongNumberInTheLink[/TWEET and the last bracket.

That video at least leaves some hope that it didn’t immolate the whole town.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by kevman

Any meaningful updates on the fire situation or is it mostly a forum to bash Smith. (Which I'm all for btw, I'd also just like to know what's going on in Jasper.)

The online blame game has been exhausting to follow. I hope there is a public enquiry to make meaningful recommendations, including in areas of shared responsibility, and there is concerted follow-up.

[Leondros]

Originally Posted by edslunch

The online blame game has been exhausting to follow. I hope there is a public enquiry to make meaningful recommendations, including in areas of shared responsibility, and there is concerted follow-up.

Honestly, given speed, size and weather I don't believe there are too many fingers to point. I know its human nature, but there was no loss of life which was a miracle in itself given the sheer number of people they needed to move in such a short amount of time.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and forest fires are going to become more prevalent. Sure you can blame people on preparedness but its not like they were going to stop this. I argue you have to be prepared and have a plan in place and monitoring to get such a large group of people out of the town in the time that they did. The response should be commended.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Leondros

Honestly, given speed, size and weather I don't believe there are too many fingers to point. I know its human nature, but there was no loss of life which was a miracle in itself given the sheer number of people they needed to move in such a short amount of time.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and forest fires are going to become more prevalent. Sure you can blame people on preparedness but its not like they were going to stop this.

Totally agree. You can’t stop a 100 metre tall pyroclastic inferno. I’m not looking for blame, just learnings if any.

Edit: and I agree the evacuation was commendable.