Jasper, Canada Ravaged by Wildfire

Jasper, Alberta is reeling after multiple wildfires combined to create what's being referred to as the Jasper Fire Complex. The blaze roared into town from two sides yesterday and did significant damage. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but the fire began during a lightning storm.

A clip from CBC News shows individual footage of the damage done by the wildfires, with the narrator commenting that there is "nothing but chimneys standing." Watch below.

Since Monday, July 22nd, the fire has affected over 89,000 acres of land.

Jasper National Park and its small town community will require a significant rebuild as many structures have been destroyed altogether.

Both residents and tourists were evacuated to BC late in the day on Monday, with an evacuation notice being issued around 10pm. Come Wednesday, even firefighters had to evacuate due to toxic smoke coming from buildings destroyed by the fires.

Personnel at Marmot Basin, a local ski area, also evacuated their resort. Two days ago, the Vice-President of Marmot, Brian Rode, reported that this evacuation went smoothly as their summer staff is just 30 people, and even fewer people than that were at the resort when the evacuation order was issued. As of today there have been no updates as to the status of Marmot Basin.

Wildfires are a serious threat for Western North America: just over the provincial border at Kicking Horse in BC, Canada, officials also shut down resort operations for a few days due to local wildfire threats.

The Canadian National Railway announced on Thursday that it has been forced to shut down the railway throughout the town of Jasper. This presents a serious inconvenience to people in Canada and the U.S. as the railway functions as the connection between ports on the Pacific Coast, the rest of Canada and the entire United States. Firefighting trains have been dispatched to the area.

Alberta province is still asserting that this fire is "out of control." It's being estimated that around 30-50 percent of buildings in the town of Jackson have been destroyed.

However, at 10pm last night, the latest update from Jasper National Park in the form of a Facebook post announced that "temperatures cooled and rain started shortly after midnight last night. The 10-15 mm of rainfall in the national park led to minimal fire behaviour and spread today. This precipitation will likely keep fire behaviour low for the next 72 hours."

Hundreds of firefighters from around the world are arriving in Jasper to help and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that the Canadian government approved a request for federal assistance, which includes military assistance.

No deaths or injuries have been reported at this time.

Related: How Aaron Fox Skied 200 Days After Shattering His Femoral Neck

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