Flames rage in the mountainous Canadian town of Jasper, with authorities believing up to 50 per cent of the town has already been lost to a wildfire that swept through the community the night before, while China is struggling to recover from the aftermath of a typhoon.
Canada burns
Jasper is at the centre of the Jasper Mountain National Park in the province of Alberta in western Canada. The town and park, which attracts more than two million tourists a year, were evacuated Monday. Officials estimated there were up to 10,000 people in the town and up to 15,000 visitors in the park. One X user wrote:
Gridlock getting out of Jasper last night. My brother-in -law manages the hospital… they are still evacuating patients and shutting down the hospital. My sister is with him, cooking and caring for essential workers. Hopefully they can evacuate soon.
Tim Horrocks, who owns the town’s Sunhouse Cafe, said there was an “eerie environment” as he evacuated late on Monday. Horrocks told CBC Radio:
There was a lot of smoke in town at that point. There was ash falling from the sky.
The fire also damaged several bridges in the city and within the national park, including the Moberly Bridge and Old Fort Point Bridge.
Parks Canada says bridges on the Icefields Parkway will also need to be inspected for structural damage, which will slow access to Maligne Lake and Highway 93.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith shared the grim news with reporters Thursday morning. She said, adding the fire was still out of control:
We’re seeing potentially 30 per cent to 50 per cent structural damage … that’s going to be a significant rebuild.
Todd Loewen, Alberta’s minister of forestry and parks, called Wednesday “truly a heartbreaking day in the history of the province.”
Authorities added that “significant structural firefighting forces arrived overnight and continue to assist in extinguishing the fire in the community today.”
Parks Canada said firefighters’ efforts prevented significant damage to infrastructure in the eastern part of the city, including the hospital, emergency services building, elementary and junior/senior high schools, an entertainment centre and wastewater treatment plants.
Typhoon is raging in China
Meanwhile, Typhoon Gaemi hit the coast of eastern China’s Fujian province on Thursday evening before becoming a tropical storm moving inland. More than 628,000 people are in the disaster zone.
Authorities have evacuated 150 thousand residents from the danger zone in advance. Several dozen ferry routes and about 100 air flights have been suspended. Train traffic has also been halted.
The typhoon hit China’s southeastern coast Thursday night after sweeping across the island of Taiwan, where it caused landslides and flooding and killed three people, the Associated Press reported. Offices and schools in Taiwan were closed and people were urged to stay home and away from the coastline. In the Philippines, the death toll from the typhoon rose to 22. A tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of oil sank off the coast of Manila on Thursday due to the typhoon, and authorities were rushing to contain the fuel spill.
