The Alberta government said Wednesday afternoon that plans are underway to reopen Highway 16 through Jasper to commercial traffic within the next 24 hours.
Highway 16 between the B.C. border and just east of the Jasper park gates has been closed for more than a week, since Jasper National Park was evacuated due to wildfires last Monday night.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis said Wednesday afternoon that plans are underway to soon reopen the important economic corridor to commercial traffic only.
“It is going to be restricted at this time to commercial vehicles,” Ellis stressed.
“The importance of getting Highway 16 open to commercial vehicle traffic – we are optimistic that it’s going to be within the next 24 hours – that’s really the best answer I can give to you on that. To get at least the commercial vehicles going through, that will be number one,” he added just after 2 p.m. MT.
Ellis said there are still wildfire dangers along the highway, as well as other roads off Highway 16 that need to be blocked off before officials can consider reopening the highway to personal vehicles.
“We still have wildfires that are out of control. So we’re getting the information, trying to figure out where they are, what is the proximity of these fires to roadways, as an example, and we’re trying to make sure that it is at the very minimum safe for big commercial vehicles to go through,” Ellis said.
“In a scenario where the fire is posing a potential danger, there’s planning that needs to (be done) as to how vehicles turn around, to the RCMP, to Parks Canada, to have all the necessary resources to block off a certain area, to make sure that any commercial vehicle that is going through is doing so in a safe way. There’s a lot of planning that goes into this.
“The incident command team had indicated to me that on that particular stretch of road, there’s a number of … roads that just kind of go into the forest. So right now they’re identifying what those roads are and they will be putting up cement barriers to prevent vehicles from going there. Once that happens and the scene itself is safe, then we’ll see more personal vehicles beyond commercial vehicles that will be able to go through.”
The evacuation order for the national park remains in place. Re-entry plans are in the works but a timeline has not been released as to when people may be able to return home.
Ellis said plans are underway to organize bus tours through Jasper for residents to see the damage that’s been done.
“We are committed to getting these bus tours, even in the scenario where folks may not be able to exit the bus, but may at least be able to go look and see as to what’s going on, we’re trying to get that really, really soon,” Ellis said.
“I wish I could give you an exact date on that.”
Some people were forced to leave their trailers and RVs in the park when they fled. Ellis said plans should be in place in the next 24 to 48 hours for those to be retrieved.
Ellis said ATCO is still in the process of turning on gas and power, but some areas of the town are still unsafe.
“They’re having to go home by home, business by business,” Ellis said. “We observed downed power poles, as an example, some of which had fallen on other structures. There’s live wires in certain areas of the community right now.”
Officials warned that warm temperatures and windy conditions are expected in the coming days and will likely lead to heightened wildfire activity.
“As conditions become hotter and drier, more smoke may become visible in the region,” Parks Canada said Wednesday afternoon. “Operations are strategically focusing efforts in critical areas to mitigate this expected change in weather. Crews will continue critical infrastructure protection in the town and in outlying areas.”
“This wildfire season is far from over,” Minister of Forestry and Parks Rodd Loewen added.
Alberta Wildfire information unit manager Christie Tucker said there have been 1,000 wildfires in Alberta so far this year, burning more than 560,000 hectares.
“The month of July has been unusually active for wildfires. We’ve had 488 new wildfire starts this month, which is nearly half the total for the year,” Tucker said.
The average for July is 212 wildfire starts, Tucker said, adding that 94 per cent of the area burned in Alberta so far this year has burned in July.
For the latest information on which areas in Alberta are under an evacuation alert or order due to a wildfire, visit the Alberta Emergency Alert website.
For the latest information on the wildfire status and danger across the province, visit the Alberta Wildfire website.
The latest information on fire advisories, restrictions and bans across the province can be found on the Alberta fire bans website.