Thousands of tourists among those forced to flee Jasper National Park due to wildfire threat
As many as 25,000 people were in national park, townsite, when evacuation order was issued
When Frédéric Wataré arrived in Jasper on Monday after 37 days in the backcountry, nothing seemed amiss.
"Everything was fine, I ate in a restaurant and went to my hotel," he told Edmonton AM host Mark Connolly.
"Then, around 8 p.m., people started to panic a little bit."
The Montreal resident was just one of thousands of tourists caught up in the evacuation of the town of Jasper and Jasper National Park beginning Monday night.
Stephen Lacroix of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency said during a news conference Tuesday that about 25,000 people were estimated to be affected by the evacuation, of which approximately 5,000 were residents of Jasper, 5,000 were visiting the town and 15,000 were in the national park.
Wataré said that once the notice to evacuate came, people began departing the community quickly in vehicles. But for visitors like him without access to a vehicle, it wasn't clear how he was supposed to leave.
"It was very stressful," he said. "For people without a car, we don't know what to do. We asked at the hotel, if they had a solution, they had no solution."
Eventually, he learned that buses were available for evacuees. But when he boarded, no one knew where they were going, including the driver.
"At the beginning, they didn't know, they just drove, drove, drove, and every 10 minutes they had some new information."
Wataré wound up in Valemount, B.C., in a church housing evacuees, including families with children.
Reservations cancelled
Jasper and the surrounding area is a popular tourist destination, including all types of visitors from backcountry campers to families on day trips to organized tour groups from around the world.
As the wildfire situation became worse, companies began notifying their customers and cancelling reservations.
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge posted a notice on its website that "The resort has been safely evacuated and will remain closed until emergency services and Parks Canada provide the evacuation rescind notice: All is currently safe."
Pursuit, a tourism company that operates several hotels and tours in the area, posted a statement that it was cancelling all reservations for Jasper and the Columbia Icefields for Tuesday.
Parks Canada cancelled all camping reservations in Jasper National Park for July 22 to August 6, with no estimated date for reopening due to the fluid situation.
There are more than 2,000 individual campsites in Jasper National Park and another 90 backcountry campgrounds.
An ill-timed trip
Mary Brown of Edmond, Oklahoma, was in Vegreville for a wedding and decided to take a solo overnight trip to Jasper before leaving Alberta.
"I knew that there were wildfires, but I didn't know that they were as dangerous as they obviously were. I was actually kind of bummed when I was driving out because I could, I couldn't see the mountains very well because of because of the smoke."
She was in a hostel when the evacuation alert sounded on her phone around 9 p.m. on Monday. Brown got in her rental car and sat in the gridlock of cars trying to leave. She offered a ride to a family walking down the road, and together the group drove to McBride, B.C., — a 167-kilometre journey that took seven hours due to traffic volumes.
Brown said she was supposed to fly out of Edmonton Tuesday night, but with the roads closed she was instead driving to Vancouver to catch a flight Wednesday morning.
Refunds not guaranteed
Whether refunds or no-fee reservation changes would be granted for hotels, tour packages or flights is ultimately up to individual companies, according to the Tourism Industry Association of Alberta.
"The specifics of travel insurance and business insurance coverage can vary widely between providers," a spokesperson said in a statement.
"Generally, travel insurance may cover trip cancellations, interruptions, and evacuation expenses in the event of a disaster. However, we advise travelers to consult their insurance providers for detailed information about their coverage in such situations."
Air Canada said customers affected by the Jasper wildfire would not be charged for rebooking their flights. WestJet pointed to a policy to accommodate customers affected by wildfires near Fort McMurray, but did not clarify whether it would apply the policy to Jasper evacuees.
Wataré, the Montreal backpacker, had hoped to catch a flight from Edmonton to Switzerland, where he is getting married in two weeks.
"Unfortunately, I didn't take insurance, so I don't think I will have the refund," he said.
"I'm happy to be alive and to not be in the backcountry. I think there are people more in trouble than me. It's just money right now, you know?"
So far this wildfire season, about 540,000 hectares has burned in Alberta. In 2023, considered the worst wildfire season on record, about 2.2 million of hectares burned.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Kashmala Fida Mohatarem