Jasper National Park wildfire grows to 5,000 hectares

The Jasper National Park wildfire 15 kilometres south of the townsite has grown to 5,000 hectares, park officials say.

However the fire, burning near Excelsior Creek in the Maligne Valley, is moving away from the town of Jasper.

On Thursday afternoon, 52 hikers were told to leave the Skyline Trail, while another 82 people and their vehicles were escorted from the area around Maligne Lake late Thursday.

The Maligne Lake Road is now closed.

"Most of our efforts have been focused on evacuating people from the valley," said Greg Fenton, Jasper field unit superintendent for Parks Canada. "Both the day-use area around Maligne Lake ... and then starting evacuations from backcountry campgrounds."

Fire is not uncommon in the national park and is a natural part of the ecosystem, Fenton said.

"The forests that we have in the Jasper National Park are the remnants of historic fires that burned from one side of the valley to the other. But we're not in that kind of a situation and we certainly don't anticipate that we will see fire growth like that."

Still, officials are not letting the fire burn as part of a natural process, he said.

"In situations like this where there are fires out of control and potentially values at risk — both people and infrastructure — we have, since parks were first created way back in the early 1900s, developed a fire management and control capability and we're putting those to use right now."

No infrastructure is at risk other than the Maligne Road itself, Fenton said.

The fire, sparked by lightning, was reported at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday and is moving south through the valley, away from Jasper. Crews are working to contain the blaze, primarily from the air.

All park facilities remain open, including campgrounds, though a fire ban is in place.