Fire crews in Jasper, Alta., are making significant progress on the wildfire that destroyed nearly 30 per cent of the town. Because of those efforts, Jasper’s mayor says that on Monday residents will learn when they can return home.
“The criteria for re-entry continue to be achieved at an accelerating pace. Returning residents safely to their homes has been and continues to be an overriding goal of the incident management team,” Mayor Richard Ireland said.
In a media conference Saturday morning, Ireland said that exact details for times and dates haven’t been finalized just yet, but that information will be shared Monday by members of the unified command.
“My hope is that knowledge of the pending announcement will provide a bridge and some measure of comfort to those so fraught with anxiety and the desire to know when they will be able to return home. Monday, they will know,” Ireland said.
Although the wildfire is still classified as out of control, the north edge of the fire, which presents a risk to the townsite, is now 80 per cent contained. The wildfire is currently around 33,000 hectares in size.
Parks Canada says staff are removing hazards and reconnecting utilities across Jasper.
“We’re getting off of the reactive measures and able to get into more proactive measures and reinforce some of those lines,” Parks Canada incident commander Jonathan Large said.
“Sometimes we can go in, remove some of the vegetation that’s grown up. A lot of those actions are going on simultaneously now with the suppression efforts that we’re doing. I feel the town’s in very good shape.”
There’s still a lot of uncertainty about what the next few months will look like in Jasper.
The Grande Yellowhead Public School Division (GYPSD) is informing families now about the upcoming school year, as many of its students are scattered across the province.
“Children who have been displaced by wildfires can attend any school in Alberta, they can register at any school in Alberta. If the school has the resources and the room, they will take the children,” said Dale Karpluk, GYPSD board chair. “It is hard on children. Schools are that welcoming safe spot where we want kids to be.”
Karpluk says schools in Edson and Hinton are getting ready to welcome Jasper kids. However, it will also be difficult for teachers when they return to the classroom in the fall.
“Approximately 40 per cent of our staff have lost their homes. The elementary principal tells me that five of his staff have lost their homes. I spoke with the high school principal and of 12 teaching staff, seven have lost their (homes),” Karpluk said.
“There may be less students to start with but I know that there are staff in Jasper who did not lose their homes and they will be ready to take up the challenge.”