Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’d like to see bus tours organized for evacuated residents of Jasper so they can see the damage a wildfire did to their town for themselves and know what to expect when they’re eventually allowed to return home.
Smith made the comments on her provincewide call-in radio show on Saturday, where she also told listeners she’d like temporary housing arranged for Jasper National Park residents so they can live in the townsite while they rebuild their homes.
Parks Canada has estimated 30 per cent of Jasper’s structures were damaged by the wildfire, with 358 of the town’s 1,113 structures destroyed.
Alberta Wildfire announced on Saturday that a provincewide telephone town hall will take place on Monday at 6:30 p.m. for Albertans to ask questions.
Smith, along with Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland and other dignitaries, toured the evacuated town on Friday, where they passed the charred remains of the home where Ireland himself grew up.
More than 20,000 people in and around the town nestled in the Rocky Mountains four hours west of Edmonton were ordered to evacuate late Monday night due to fast-moving wildfires.
Relentless, fierce winds gusting up to 100 km/h challenged and eventually overwhelmed crews, and the southern fire broke through early Wednesday night and began wreaking havoc.
The two blazes that menaced Jasper from the north and south earlier this week have since merged. The total area burned or partially burned is estimated at 360 square kilometres.
Smith notes temporary housing was also used during the reconstruction of High River, Alta., after it suffered devastating floods back in 2013.
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“So we have seen a precedent where you set up a temporary community that allows people to live on-site while rebuilding is occurring,” Smith told her radio audience, noting that nearby Hinton, Alta., may be relied on for construction workers.
The Canadian Armed Forces have already set up camp in Hinton, located on the edge of the national park, to provide extra assistance.
She said she expected it would be close to 28 days before Jasper residents would be allowed to return to their town, explaining it took a similar amount of time before Fort McMurray residents got the green light to go home after it was hit by a ferocious fire in 2016.
While Smith said after her tour of the town Friday that critical infrastructure remained intact, including schools, the hospital, and water treatment services, she said on Saturday that staff needed to get inside the hospital to check for damage since there were reports its roof had been on fire.
Because the town is part of Jasper National Park, rebuilding plans are taking shape with help from the federal government, Smith said.
“We’ve already begun a joint task force on how recovery is going to take place, trying to time when people are able to return to their community, and I’m very hopeful it will come back better than ever.”
A statement posted to X late Friday night said fire crews were taking advantage of cool and wet conditions to make progress on addressing hot spots in smouldering buildings.
The same statement also noted crews were also working to control hot spots along the wildfire perimeter nearest the Jasper townsite.
Among the properties affected by the wildfire include the well-known Maligne Lodge.
Officials from Alberta Wildfire and the Alberta Emergency Management Agency are scheduled to provide an update on the ongoing wildfire situation later Saturday.
— With files from Karen Bartko, Global News
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