Parks Canada successfully carried out its first prescribed fire of the season, April 17, albeit with a little more excitement than it had initially planned.
According to Parks, the fire鈥�14 km north of Jasper along Highway 16鈥攔emained within the containment area, but due to shifting winds jumped the highway, burning just under a hectare of land along the west side of the road, near the railroad tracks.
鈥淭he fire went really, really well,鈥� said Dave Smith, a fire and vegetation specialist in Jasper National Park and the incident commander.
鈥淭he conditions were not perfect. So we did have the one spot fire that gave us a little bit of concern, but thanks to having the proper people in the right place we were able to control that fire pretty easily without having to stop the main ignition.鈥�
A spot fire starts when flying sparks or embers float through the air and land ahead of the fire.
As the spot fires ignited, an initial attack crew from Banff National Park immediately responded, running from one fire to the next to extinguish the flames.
At one point there were so many spot fires, Jasper National Park Supt. Alan Fehr, jumped into the action grabbing a hose to try and douse the flames, before being pulled out of the area as the fire got into some nearby trees.
At that point fire crews were forced to change tactics, using helicopter buckets and hoses before putting in a fire line downwind so the fire had nowhere to go.
According to Smith, the spot fire was well within the containment area, which is an area that surrounds the burn unit.
鈥淭hose are areas where fire is acceptable, but we will make efforts to put it out,鈥� said Smith.
鈥淚f you had a prescribed fire unit that didn鈥檛 have containment areas around it you鈥檇 be setting yourself up, because it鈥檚 a hard fact of life that fire does jump the lines and that鈥檚 why we have the people there and the plans to deal with it.鈥�
Due to drifting smoke, Highway 16 was temporary closed in both directions until visibility improved. Once the smoke dissipated, Parks reopened one lane of traffic on an alternating basis, piloting motorists through the burn area. A speed zone reduction was also put in place prior to the fire.
Besides dealing with the spot fires, Parks managed to burn 102 hectares of the second sub-unit of the Jackladder Complex, 14 km north of Jasper. Last year Parks burned the first sub-unit, which was 111 hectares in size and included the area surrounding the Jasper Airfield.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really pleased with the results,鈥� said Smith, who praised everyone who was involved in the fire.
鈥淓veryone was busy, but nobody was taxed and the results will speak for themselves in a couple of weeks when we start seeing things turn green out there.鈥�
According to Parks, the operation was completed in approximately three hours and the temporary closures to the Overlander Trail and airfield day-use area were lifted the following day.
The objective of the prescribed fire was to restore open grasslands that were historically present in the area.
鈥淭he Athabasca Valley in Jasper National Park used to burn fairly frequently with fairly low to moderate intensity,鈥� said Kim Weir, a fire communications officer for Jasper National Park.
鈥淔or people who don鈥檛 really understand the term prescribed fire I generally say planned fire, so it鈥檚 a fire we ignite on purpose, but of course in order to ignite a fire there are a whole bunch of conditions that we have to satisfy,鈥� explained Weir.
That set of conditions includes proper smoke ventilation, wind direction and speed, temperature, soil moisture, fuel, relative humidity, the impact to the public, as well as聽 manmade and natural features to help contain the fire.
Prior to ignition, Parks set up a sprinkler system to protect the facilities at the airfield day-use area and planned to leave a strip of trees along the edge of the Athabasca River.
The fire team also created a swath of fireguards the week before in preparation for the fire.
According to Parks, the agency hopes to carry out four more prescribed burns this year, including a series of six small prescribed burns west of town and several small-scale prescribed fires along the Pyramid Bench fireguard to help protect the community from wildfires.
The agency also intends to continue creating fireguards at Henry House, 13 km north of town, in preparation for a prescribed fire in the future.
Work will also continue at the Fiddle Creek complex, along the eastern boundary of the park, to create a fireguard for Hinton and help slow the spread of the mountain pine beetle.
鈥淭hrough fire suppression we鈥檝e had an incredible build up of forest fuels and vegetation that is just ripe for a fire, so ironically we鈥檝e actually increased the fire hazard out there for large catastrophic fires that we may not be able to put out, so it鈥檚 important for a number of reasons to restore fire back onto the landscape,鈥� said Weir, explaining each fire has its own objectives.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
