While the province’s wildfire status dashboard cites lightning as what sparked the fire, officials say its cause is still too early to verify, but that an investigation is underway.
A popular recreation area southwest of Calgary is closed to the public due to an ongoing wildfire that began Friday night, officials confirmed Saturday.
The 1.2-hectare fire was burning near Burstall Pass in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, said Derrick Forsythe, an information officer for Alberta Wildfire. It was listed as out of control as of 3 p.m. while crews continued to battle it.
While the dashboard cites lightning as what sparked the fire, Forsythe told reporters during a Saturday afternoon wildfire update that is still too early to verify, but that an investigation is underway.
The blaze in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park was one of 118 wildfires burning in Alberta’s forest protection area Saturday afternoon. Of those, Forsythe said 19 were listed as being out of control, 46 were being held and 53 were under control.
“With the extreme fire danger in the south, the fire ban remains in place for the forest protection area south of the Pembina River,” he said.
Wildfire danger has lessened in some parts of north and central parts of Alberta, according to Forsythe, but remains high in other regions.
In particular, he cited two wildfires that have grown since Friday and “showed extreme wildfire behavior.” As of Saturday afternoon, RWF 064 was burning 25 kilometres south of Nordegg at about 6,900 hectares in size, while RWF 062 was burning 20 kilometres west of Nordegg and nine kilometres west of Big Horn First Nation.
A number of provincial parks and recreation areas have been closed due to wildfire activity in northern Alberta, including The Aylmer, Crescent Falls, Elk Creek, Fish Pond and Peppers Lake Provincial Recreation Areas, as well as Ram Falls Provincial Park.
Bus tour organized for Jasper residents
Meanwhile, bus tours through Jasper for residents whose homes were lost or damaged in the fire there will begin Sunday, said Joe Zatylny, deputy managing director the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
He said residents can register for the tours via Alberta.ca/emergency. All Jasper residents may register, but priority will be given to residents whose homes were lost or damaged.
“We wanted to make sure we did this as quickly as possible and had all the supports in place so we can do this safely and efficiently, but also supportively for the residents who have lost (their homes),” he said, adding emotional support workers will be on the buses to comfort participants.
“We know returning to the community for the first time can be very difficult for residents, so mental health support and referral services will be available on the tour to help people prepare for seeing the disaster site, as well as on the buses afterward to ensure people know who they can turn to for help,” Zatylny said.
The tours will depart Sunday from Edmonton and Hinton, though Zatylny stressed they are on a case-by-case basis and subject to change, considering the wildfire situation in Jasper National Park continues to fluctuate.
To ensure participant safety, no one on the tours will be allowed to leave the bus while inside the national park.
While the wildfire outside of the Jasper townsite remains out of control, Zatylny said the Jasper Unified Command is continuing to work on a re-entry plan for residents to return once it is safe to do so and critical services are restored.