Historic Rocky Mountains resort town of Jasper destroyed by wildfire

Earlier this week 25 0000 were evacuated from the area. Alberta premier Danielle Smith tells the media there is potentially 30 to 50 percent structural damage in the historic resort town in the Canadian part of the Rocky Mountains.  

According to CBC.ca, who has followed this "monster wildfire" with several articles the past few days, destructive flames swept into the community of Jasper, Alberta late Wednesday, incinerating vast stretches of the town structures. 

Already on Monday July 22, the government of the province of Alberta issued an evacuation order for the town of Jasper and the Jasper National Park:

Action to take:

• Everyone in Jasper and Jasper National Park must evacuate now
• The fire is coming towards to and is expected to reach the community in 5 hours
• Please drive safe
• Use Highway 16 towards British Columbia
• Follow directions from local authorities
• Bring identification, important documents, medication, pets and your emergency kit with you
• Check the Municipality of Jasper and Jasper National Park's Facebook page and website for more information
• If you need a ride, go to the Activity Centre, Forest Park Hotel or Maligne Lod

Photo (Above): This photo was submitted to the CBC by an unknown reader., or firefighter. The photo shows buildings in the southwestern part of the town of Jasper being destroyed by fire. 

Police going door to door to make sure residents left

About 10,000 Jasper residents and 15000 tourists were evacuated, according to the BBC. According to other sources, only about 4700 people are full time residents of Jasper.

According to AP News  Stephen Lacroix with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency said Jasper town estimated about 10,000 people, including seasonal workers, were there when the evacuation call went out. 

Lacroix said police were going door to door to make sure everyone has left. He also said Parks Canada estimated about 15,000 people had been in the park.

1900 firefighters helped fight the wildfires

Approximately 1,900 Alberta firefighters have been deployed, assisted by personnel from Alaska and Australia, and are working to save local infrastructure.

Over the course of the next few days, the wildfire indeed started to burn the manmade structures of the town of Jasper, which is one of Canada's most popular tourist destinations. 

36,000 hectares burned and up to half the town of Jasper destroyed

On Thursday, Alberta government officials indicated that preliminary estimates suggest 30 to 50 percent of the town's structures may have burned. Parks Canada, the lead agency managing the fire, confirmed that numerous buildings were lost but declined to comment on the overall extent of the damage.

The forest fire has in a short time expanded to 36,000 hectares, more than quadrupling in size since Tuesday.

Late Thursday, firefighters on the scene continued to combat flames as they leap from building to building. Most of the destruction is said to be in West Jasper, while the east side has largely escaped major damage.

Mike Ellis, Alberta's Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, provided some perspective on why neither people nor machines could ultimately halt this fire:

"It had moved five kilometres in less than 30 minutes:, he said. The flames were 100 metres high.

"Any firefighter will tell you there's little to nothing you can do when you have a wall of flames coming in like that," Ellis told reporters.

Almost 60,00 lightning strikes

According to the BC Wildfire Service, the region has been struck by over 58,000 lightning strikes in the past week, igniting new blazes after a three-week heat wave. Reports say the wildfire  in Jasper National Park has been so intense that it created it´s own thunderstorm, which may have worsened conditions further. 

The Weather Network also said lighting strikes are responsible for igniting about 45 per cent of the wildfires that burn in Canada each year.