As recovery efforts get underway in Fort McMurray, the threat of more wildfires continues to loom across the province, including in Jasper.
According to Dave Smith, a fire and vegetation specialist with Parks Canada, the fire danger in Jasper National Park is constantly fluctuating, depending on precipitation, relative humidity, temperature and wind speed.
鈥淥ur fire danger right now fluctuates between high, moderate and low,鈥� said Smith, on May 10.
鈥淲e did have some rain the other day, which bumped us back to low, but because we鈥檙e only getting a bit of rain at a time, it doesn鈥檛 take much time to bring us back into moderate and high.鈥�
According to Natural Resources Canada, the fire risk in Alberta remains 鈥渆xtreme鈥� in most places and a provincial wide fire ban as well as a ban on recreational vehicles is still in place.
A fire ban in not in effect in Jasper National Park.
鈥淚n national parks the only place you can have a fire is in a designated fire pit,鈥� said Smith.聽 鈥淪o basically we have a semblance of a fire ban on all the time.鈥�
Historically fire bans are rare in the mountain national parks, although a fire ban was put in place across all five national parks last summer during the Excelsior Wildfire near Medicine Lake.
鈥淚 think maybe twice in my entire career have we had a park wide fire ban so they don鈥檛 happen too often,鈥� said Smith.
Instead of issuing a park wide ban, Parks Canada usually implements a localized fire ban for campsites west of town because of the prevailing winds.
So far this year Parks has put out one illegal campfire and usually deals with anywhere from 10 to 20 fires a year in Jasper National Park.
鈥淢ost people don鈥檛 even know we鈥檝e gone and put a fire out,鈥� said Smith.
In the event of a bigger fire he said Parks Canada is well prepared.
鈥淲e are as prepared as we have ever been,鈥� said Smith, adding an initial attack crew is ready to go at a moment's notice and when fire conditions become high or extreme a helicopter is permanently stationed in the park.
He urged people who think they may see smoke to call Jasper鈥檚 emergency dispatch at 780-852-3100.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
