Hundreds of uncontrolled wildfires are ravaging western Canada, prompting numerous communities to evacuate and raising concerns about air quality. Authorities reported on Wednesday that there are 430 active wildfires in British Columbia (BC), along with an additional 177 in neighboring Alberta, including near Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies, one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations.
BC, Canada’s westernmost province, has been impacted by over 58,000 lightning strikes, according to the province’s wildfire agency, igniting scores of new fires in forests that have become extremely dry after a three-week heatwave. Park officials dispatched helicopters over Jasper National Park on Wednesday to search for individuals who remain inside, even though mass evacuations were underway to relocate 25,000 visitors and residents away from two major wildfires. Search operations along the park’s backcountry trails had already rescued 245 individuals, reported Katie Ellsworth, Incident Commander for Parks Canada, to reporters.
As many as 15,000 people are believed to be in the park and around 10,000 in the nearby town of Jasper late on Monday when authorities issued a warning urging everyone in the area to evacuate. “The town of Jasper and Jasper National Park have been evacuated due to two active wildfires,” Jasper National Park stated in a social media post. “The evacuation of the town area and front country has been completed. Evacuations in the backcountry are ongoing and have been completed in high-priority areas,” they added. “Our highest priorities are to protect the town of Jasper and limit fire growth toward the town, Highway 16, and critical infrastructure.”
Ellsworth noted that the northern fire, which spans approximately 272 hectares, is about 5 km from Jasper, while the southern fire, at approximately 10,800 hectares, is around 8 km away. Rain was forecasted until Thursday, but it is not expected to be sufficient to gain control over the fires, and there is no timeline yet for when residents may return, she added.
Images and videos shared on social media late Tuesday night showed a line of cars and trucks slowly navigating through smoke in an effort to escape the area. Jasper resident Addison McNeill, 24, mentioned that she had just moved to the town from Edmonton when she received the distressing evacuation alert on Monday evening. “Every single person in town was trying to leave through about six different routes, and then you get bottlenecks, delays, and traffic jams,” she told the Associated Press.
Many communities in western Canada are also shrouded in thick smoke, including Alberta’s largest city, Calgary, where residents were advised to limit outdoor activities. The Canadian government warned Calgary residents on Wednesday morning that wildfire smoke was causing “very poor air quality and reduced visibility.” “Under heavy smoke conditions, everyone is at risk, regardless of age or health. The fine particles in wildfire smoke pose the greatest health risk,” they stated in a weather bulletin.
In April, federal officials indicated that Canada faced another “catastrophic” wildfire season due to higher-than-normal spring and summer temperatures across much of the country. Last year, the country experienced a record wildfire season, with over 6,600 wildfires burning 15 million hectares. Experts have stated that climate change has extended the Canadian wildfire season and made it easier for fires to ignite and spread.