Hot and dry weather contributes to blazing fire north of Jasper

Hot and dry conditions are adding to the spread of the Chetamon Peak wildfire that’s blazing roughly 20 kilometres north of the town of Jasper.

“Just seeing the amount of fire and smoke that was coming from the distance there and the driving along the highway, I was concerned that it was spreading very quickly and there was the risk of it covering the highway. There was a lot of traffic leaving Jasper,” said Justin Alvarez who witnessed the wildfire.

He was on a job in Jasper National Park earlier this week when he first noticed the out-of-control wildfire.

“You could see the smoke billowing over the town. You could just see it in the distance there. As I went a little bit close and drove along the highway there you could see… orange of the flames. I could see it was quite intense, quite big,” he explained.

The fire began around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, and was caused by lightning, according to fire officials in Jasper.

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“The initial size of the wildfire was approximately two hectares. By the end of the first day we were estimating it at about 20 hectares and now we’re estimating it to be about 300-400 hectares,” said Katie Ellsworth, a Parks Canada fire management officer.

Helicopters have also been brought in to bucket water onto the flames, she said.

“Our initial assessment resulted in us not being able to place fire crews directly on the fire line because of the steep and aggressive terrain, as well as the lack of water supply up there.”

A shift in winds caused the fire to triple in size, and is approximately 1500 hectares in size Sunday morning, according to Parks Canada.

As a precaution, two campgrounds have been evacuated. There are currently no threats to Jasper or surrounding communities and the fire centre is working closely with the town of Jasper and other partners to reduce the flames, said Ellsworth.

The smoke from the fire is, however, having an impact on surrounding – and farther reaching – communities, affecting air quality.

“My eyes started stinging – you could feel the difference,” said Alvarez.

Officials say the fire is expected to grow but crews are working hard to limit the spread.

–With files from Chris Chacon, Global News