Blaze that damaged Jasper, Alta., townsite was too powerful to stop, fire experts say
100-metre wall of flame spewed burning embers and pine cones into the wind
A wildfire that destroyed buildings in Jasper less than 48 hours after it began at least 12 kilometres away became a "monster" that firefighters were helpless to stop, says Parks Canada.
A perfectly terrible combination of conditions created a wall of fire 100 metres tall, Pierre Martel, director of national fire management for Parks Canada, said.
"It's just a monster at that point," Martel told reporters at a Thursday briefing. "There are no tools we have in our toolbox to deal with that. At that point, you get out of the way, you retreat and you do what you can to protect communities and infrastructure as best as you can."
The wind, which blew as fast as 100 kilometres per hour, was relentless enough to push the flames five kilometres along the parched landscape in less than an hour at one point on Wednesday, Martel said.
The inferno spat out burning embers and pine cones, which the wind carried ahead of the blaze toward the Jasper townsite.
Less than two days after 25,000 residents and visitors were ordered to evacuate Jasper National Park, houses and buildings within the townsite were burning.
Scientists who study wildfires say these untouchable blazes are an increasingly common phenomenon.
Mike Flannigan, a wildfire expert and professor at Kamloops' Thompson Rivers University, says a trifecta of weather, geography and fuels can determine the severity of a wildfire.
Jasper National Park has been in a prolonged drought, scientists said. The forest is dense, and full of dead, dry lodgepole pine trees destroyed by a mountain pine beetle infestation. Flannigan said that strong wind funnelled the fire and its detritus down the valley toward the townsite.
He said the blaze became so large, it created its own thunderstorm — a phenomenon that also drove the Horse River wildfire on its destructive path into Fort McMurray in 2016.
In these conditions, the airborne embers the fire is spewing out can travel a couple of kilometres, Flannigan said. It leaves natural firebreaks like rivers, lakes and roads futile to stop the spread.
"And when the fires are that intense, there's not much you can do to stop it," Flannigan said during CBC Radio's live coverage of the emergency on Thursday morning.
Parks Canada said on Wednesday night that attempted water bucketing was ineffective and water bombers couldn't fly, because the conditions were too dangerous. Heavy equipment operators who hoped to construct fire breaks had no time to complete the work before they had to flee to safety.
Firefighting could continue for weeks, wildfire scientist says
In a Thursday afternoon update, the federal agency said the damaging blaze that had approached the townsite from the south has now merged with another wildfire that started northeast of town. Although rain and cooler temperatures helped on Thursday, Parks Canada said the fire remains out of control.
Firefighting work will likely continue for weeks in the townsite and the forest, said Victoria, B.C.-based Daniel Perrakis, a fire research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service.
Although Parks Canada says firefighters remaining in Jasper have so far protected the hospital, schools, activity centre and wastewater treatment plant, Perrakis will be watching the weather in the medium term. A return to hot, dry weather could continue to fuel the blaze and put homes and buildings at risk, he said.
Firefighting in a mountain village like Jasper comes with a unique challenge. Slopes and cliffs make it difficult for firefighters to approach flames from all angles, he said.
"Unfortunately, it's like being at war," he said. "You can never get enough resources when you need them."
The fire should renew a conversation about the work all forested Canadian communities could be doing to prevent nearby blazes from becoming so threatening, he said. Those mitigations include thinning the surrounding forest, removing dead wood, constructing buildings with less flammable materials and considering more controlled burns and traditional Indigenous fire practices.
Fires that stay lower to the ground and are less intense are easier for firefighters to knock down and make measures such as protective sprinklers placed around properties more likely to be effective, he said.
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With files from Madeline Smith