The entire town of Jasper was affected by a power outage, ATCO said in a message on Twitter shortly after 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
“Our crews are responding. At this time we don’t have an estimated time when power will be restored, but we’re working as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve this,” the company said in the message.
Jasper has been dealing with power outages on and off since 4 a.m. Monday, Sept. 5. Generator power was partially restored Tuesday evening and ATCO was aiming to have the remaining half of residences in Jasper back online Wednesday night.
By Wednesday morning, power to half of the Jasper townsite had been restored, which Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said equates to about 500 to 600 residences or businesses and about 2,500 people.
However, ATCO spokesperson Amanda Mattern said it will take weeks before the permanent power system is restored.
“We’re currently working with the municipality and Jasper Parks on a restoration plan.”
“We are weeks, not days, out from rebuilding that transmission infrastructure,” Mattern said.
ATCO is also asking residents and businesses to conserve power and use energy sparingly by turning off extra lights and appliances, minimizing use of air conditioning and heaters, reducing use of washers, dryers, stoves and dishwashers.
In order to help conserve power, the Municipality of Jasper decided it will keep several facilities — the arena, curling rink, swimming pool, fitness centre — closed for the rest of the week. The situation will be reassessed on Monday.
“The protection and controls of integrating generator power into the system is extremely challenging,” ATCO said in an update on its website Wednesday at 11 a.m.
The company said it was able to check the damage to its transmission line on Tuesday and found 18 structures had been damaged due to the wildfire.
“Once we’re able to complete the full assessment of the damage, we will enact our infrastructure rebuild plan. Rebuilding of the transmission infrastructure can take up to several weeks and residents and businesses can expect to be on generator power during this time.”
Though Parks Canada says there’s no risk to any communities surrounding the Chetamon Mountain Wildfire, people with plans to visit are asked to push their plans back.
The fire is estimated to be 5,500 hectares in size. A large-scale, high-volume sprinkler system is being used to protect infrastructure within the townsite.
Eight helicopters were dropping buckets of water on Tuesday but were grounded for about an hour because of two illegal drones, Parks Canada said.
“Once those drones were found… all eight helicopters had to set down until we were able to confirm the drones were no longer in the air,” Kimberley Weir said.
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Not only is operating a drone in a national park illegal, she said, it’s irresponsible and can hamper firefighting efforts, as well as put first responders in danger.
“If a drone were to collide with a helicopter, it could be catastrophic to the pilot.”
Both drone operators will be charged, Parks Canada said. Using recreational drones in Jasper National Park carries a maximum fine of $25,000.
RCMP said Wednesday evening that there is a large amount of smoke near Highway 16 east of the townsite.
Signage is being brought in and there will be traffic control measures in place on the highway due to the smoke to ensure safety. However, RCMP said the highway is not being closed at this time.
Meanwhile, Parks Canada continues to ask potential visitors to stay away from the national park.
“While Miette Hotsprings and the Columbia Icefields are not affected, Parks Canada is only able to provide essential services for the townsite and surrounding areas close to the townsite,” a statement posted to Parks Canada’s website read.
The mayor also had a message for everyone outside of the park gates: “Now is not the time to visit Jasper.”
“We will not be welcoming and are not able to welcome visitors to Jasper until we are connected to the main power grid,” Ireland said.
“We need help from all Jasper residents and all Jasper businesses to manage the powerload. This means using as little power as possible so we can maintain power to as many Jasperites and as many Jasper businesses as possible.”
The Municipality of Jasper’s operations department will conduct daily solid waste pickup to accommodate anticipated food spoilage due to this extended power loss. People can refer to Alberta Health Services for information on how to deal with perishable foods.
The Municipality of Jasper has set up a reception centre at the Jasper Activity Centre that is offering services for residents between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. including charging stations for power devices, free soup from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., pizza later on, access to a microwave and access to a hot shower.
— With files from Jessika Guse, Global News and The Canadian Press
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