EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Multiple wildfires burning in the Canadian Rockies’ largest national park forced up to 25,000 tourists and residents to evacuate westward through darkness and soot down the last remaining mountain passes on Tuesday after government warnings were issued during the busiest tourist season of the year.
“The traffic is terrible,” Carolyn Campbell of Edmonton said by phone from her car. “It’s pretty thick. We’ve got masks in the car.” Campbell said it took her hours to travel just seven kilometers (about four miles), and she worries about people who fled with little gas left.
With hundreds of wildfires burning in Western Canada, people evacuated from Jasper National Park and the town of Jasper, Alberta, which has a full-time population of 4,700, received an unusual order late Tuesday to make a wide U-turn east if they needed a place to stay. Further west, in British Columbia, more than 300 wildfires are already burning.
Stephen Lacroix of Alberta Emergency Management said he estimates about 10,000 people, including seasonal workers, were in Jasper when the evacuation was called. Police are going door-to-door to make sure everyone has evacuated, he said. Parks Canada estimates there were about 15,000 people in the park, he said.
Photos and videos shared on social media throughout Tuesday night and into the night showed long lines of cars with their headlights on moving slowly through billowing smoke.
A fire raging from the northeast has cut off access to the eastern highway to Edmonton, Alberta’s capital, while another fire raging from the south has closed the north-south Icefields Parkway, leaving only one route west into British Columbia.
But Alberta fire officials said British Columbia was overwhelmed with evacuations. Alberta Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said reception centres were being set up in Grande Prairie and Calgary instead, and that drivers evacuating the Jasper area would have to detour through parts of British Columbia.
Scorching heat has forced an additional 7,500 people to evacuate remote communities in Alberta, and about 170 wildfires are burning across the province.
The city of Jasper and Jasper National Park said evacuations were “progressing smoothly,” and park and town officials were working to clear traffic jams, secure fuel for vehicles and keep vulnerable people safe while mobilizing resources to fight the fire.
“All residents of Jasper must evacuate immediately,” the Alberta government said in an emergency alert late Monday, while Parks Canada noted that “the situation is changing and continues to change.”
Evacuees were told to leave within five hours, by 3 a.m. Tuesday, and to take with them important documents, pets, medicines and other emergency supplies.
Parks Canada said the Athabasca Hostel and Palisades Stewardship and Education Centre had also been evacuated, as well as numerous campgrounds.
Katie Ellsworth, fire management officer for Parks Canada, said helicopters were dousing the object with water and trying to evacuate hikers who may be trapped in the backcountry.
Jasper National Park announced that all reservations from July 23 through August 6 have been canceled and full refunds will be offered.
Many of the evacuees initially went to Valemount, British Columbia, a town of 1,000 people about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Jasper.
“This community is pretty congested,” said Town Administrator Ann Yanxiu. “The parking lots, the main streets, the side of the road, the fields – anywhere you can park your car – are full.”
Some evacuees spent the night on the floor of a local arena, a pancake breakfast was served at a church, and drinks, snacks and information were available at Valemount Community Hall and Visitor Centre.
“While many of the fires currently being fought are lightning caused, we expect to see more fires in the near future,” Alberta Forestry Minister Todd Lowen said.
A record number Forest fire More than 235,000 people were forced to evacuate across Canada in 2023, thick smoke spread to parts of the United States, hazy skies were seen in several U.S. cities and health advisories were issued.
