Blaze in Canadian tourist town still out of control but rain helping firefighters

By David Ljunggren and Anna Mehler Paperny

(Reuters) -A massive wildfire that destroyed about a third of the western Canadian tourist town of Jasper is still out of control but rain and cooler conditions are helping firefighters, authorities said on Friday.

Jasper, located in the middle of Alberta’s picturesque Jasper National Park, is a major tourist destination. The town and park, which draw more than 2 million tourists a year to this area of the Rocky Mountains, were evacuated on Monday.

“Rain and cooler temperatures and the incredibly hard work of firefighters have resulted in fire activity that is significantly subdued,” said Alberta premier Danielle Smith.

“It is important to note that the fire is still out of control, and it remains unsafe for people to return,” she told a press conference.

Parks Canada said between 10 mm and 15 mm (0.39 and 0.59 inch) of rain had fallen on Thursday and would most likely keep fire behavior low until into the weekend.

Jasper town council said that out of a total of 1,113 structures in the town, 358 – or over 32% – had been destroyed.

“It’s going to be difficult. The pain that will be felt almost defies description. It is beyond comprehension,” said Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland.

Residents and business owners have been combing through images that have begun to emerge from the town to assess the extent of the devastation.

Brett Ireland, who co-owns the Jasper Brew Pub is anxious to get back and assess the damage to his business. He thinks it is still standing, but does not know the extent of the water and smoke damage. Ireland knows the building next door burned and that his parents’ house is gone.

“It’s actually mind-blowing how bad it is,” Ireland said.

Some estimate that the cleanup and rebuild could take years, and fear that severe wildfire seasons are increasingly hurting western Canada’s lucrative tourism industry that is responsible for bringing in billions of dollars in revenue each year.

RAIL TRAFFIC RESUMES

CN Rail, one of the country’s two largest rail companies, resumed the movement of goods through Jasper National Park on Friday after the fire forced it to suspend operations.

CN remains in regular contact with officials and is monitoring weather and fire movements, it said in a statement.

Officials estimated that when the evacuation order was given, there were up to 10,000 people in the town and a further 15,000 visitors in the park.

Late on Thursday, authorities said crews had managed to protect all of Jasper’s critical infrastructure, including the hospital, schools and a wastewater treatment plant.

The blaze however, has damaged a number of bridges around the town and in the park, they added.

The Jasper Park Lodge, one of the largest hotels in town, said it had suffered some damage but most structures remained standing and intact. The 400-room residence is run by Fairmont, a group owned by France’s Accor (EPA:).

The Trans Mountain oil pipeline, which can carry 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Edmonton to Vancouver, runs through the park. The operator said on Thursday there were no signs of damage.

The federal government said in April that high temperatures and tinder-dry forests meant this could be a catastrophic year for wildfires in Canada.

The current fire could be one of the most damaging in Alberta since a 2016 blaze that hit the oil town of Fort McMurray, forcing the evacuation of all 90,000 residents and destroying 10% of all structures there.