Latest news with #MunicipalityOfJasper
CBC
26-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Jasper bolsters fire resiliency standards after devastating 2024 wildfire
The Municipality of Jasper and Parks Canada are taking firmer measures to protect the park from wildfires, after a massive wildfire destroyed 30 per cent of the townsite in July 2024. The measures will ensure that homes are built with non-combustible roofs and siding instead of highly flammable material like cedar shingles, which had been a popular choice for the mountain town. The municipality adopted new urban design standards under its land use and planning department based on guidelines under the national FireSmart program. The program, developed in the early 2000s, outlines how people can make their properties more resilient to fire, such as removing debris and dry vegetation and building with non-flammable materials. Mathew Conte, Jasper's fire chief, said cedar shingles, pine needles and pine cones are prime fuel for ember showers that dropped hot embers and bits of fire over Jasper last summer. "Where we found we were severely impacted by that, were a lot of the homes that still had cedar shake roofs," Conte said during a news availability on Monday. "Crews spent most of their evening actioning those fires all night long," Conte recounted. "Unfortunately, by the time they put out one and moved on to the next one, that ember shower just reignited the structure in behind us." Conte said the fire also latched on to wooden decks and juniper bushes at properties that didn't implement FireSmart guidelines. The municipality and Parks Canada are encouraging people who still have cedar roofs to replace them with non-combustible materials, like tin and asphalt. Conte said the fire department has hired a captain of prevention to help educate residents about FireSmart guidelines, a program that's been around since the early 2000s. With the help of the new captain, the fire department has done 30 advanced home assessments in the past two months, he noted. "I think they're taking it a lot more seriously," Conte said. "We have a lot of residents that have actually reached out to us." Jasper has also purchased residential sprinkler kits, which people can buy at cost from the fire department. Zone of protection Parks Canada has expanded its risk reduction program that started more than two decades ago, said David Argument, the resource conservation manager for Jasper National Park. Crews cut down highly flammable evergreens like the lodgepole pine in sections of forest around the townsite to make it harder for fire to spread through high tree canopy, he said. So far, they've carved out 900 hectares of land to the north and west of the townsite. Thinning the forest makes it harder for fire to spread through a high canopy of trees, he said. On Pyramid Bench, a hill north of the townsite, Argument showed media a new 60-hectare block of land they cleared over the winter, "We're trying to produce a zone of fire protection or, or vegetation treatment all the way around the perimeter of the community." You can walk from the furthest southern end of town at Stone Mountain for about 2.5 km before you get to the end of the zone, Argument said. "We're knitting together a long-term plan that we believe will be able to maintain the long term," Argument said. "We can't just cut it and walk away. It has to be something we can maintain long term." It costs $15,000 a hectare to cut down and remove the wood. "So it is costly work to get this wood off the landscape," Argument said. Conte said last summer's hot and dry conditions were unprecedented, and they were taken by surprise how quickly the fire hit the town — 46 hours from the time the fire ignited in the south valley. "From the time that fire was about five kilometres out, it took about 30 minutes to reach the town. So very little time." "We've always planned and prepared for a forest fire. And I think any community that lives in a forested area, it's always a matter of when it'll happen, not if," Conte said.
CBC
09-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Municipality of Jasper adopts climate action plan nearly one year after wildfire
Social Sharing The Municipality of Jasper is embarking on a five-year plan to mitigate the impacts of climate hazards like wildfires, wildfire smoke, extreme heat, freezing rain, and receding glaciers. Council approved the Climate Adaptation Action Plan, after reviewing the report at a meeting Tuesday. It comes nearly a year after a wildfire ravaged forest in Jasper National Park before it entered the town, destroying about 350 residences. "This disaster caused severe disruption to Jasper's built, natural, social and economic systems, significantly impacting individuals and families, local businesses, the broader community, and the surrounding region," the report says. The climate action plan contains 28 steps to safeguard critical infrastructure, protect essential services and better prepare the community to deal with natural disasters. Mayor Richard Ireland said the municipality has been working on some of the measures for years, such as the FireSmart program to buildings. There's a sense of urgency now after last year's disaster. "We're aware of risk to our community, wildfire being one of them, and that risk continues despite the wildfires of summer of 2024." Administration says some measures are high priority, such as preventing wildfires, installing backup power systems for critical infrastructure, fire-proofing buildings, upgrading HVAC systems and adding clear-air shelters, shade structures and cooling spaces in public places like parks. Ireland said the municipality will work with Parks Canada to improve some infrastructure standards. "I know that our wastewater treatment plant now is sided in wood, that should probably change," he said. "We've already taken steps to encourage Parks Canada to change building requirements so we don't wind up with more combustible buildings." Coun. Scott Wilson said people are aware that things have to change. "Everybody feels it and on those hot, dry days, we really do start thinking about it." Wilson said wood had been the going concern for builders in previous decades, but as the town looks ahead to a hotter, more eventful climate future, reducing risk when building and landscaping is paramount. The plan includes an education campaign — spreading the word to advise people which municipal buildings they can go during a heat wave or heavy smoke. The climate action plan also stems from a risk assessment plan that was compiled before the wildfire. That report says Jasper is expected to get hotter in the coming years, alongside an increase in the number of extreme rainfall events, including freezing rain. Wildfire risk will continue to be significant, the report said. "Ideally, municipal staff, members of the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Jasper, and other community organizations should work collaboratively to co-create a plan toward greater resilience that can realistically be implemented," the report said.
CTV News
02-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Alberta accepting invoices from Valemount for Jasper evacuee costs
Vehicles leave the Jasper area in July 2024 hours before wildfire breached the town. (Sean McClune/CTV News Edmonton) Valemount business owners that hosted Jasper evacuees last summer are now eligible for reimbursement from the Government of Alberta, says consulting firm Strategies North. Businesses, non-profits and other organizations who hosted evacuees can submit reimbursement requests for goods and services they provided to evacuees for free or at a significant discount, according to the firm. These goods and services can include accommodation, food and water, consumable items, or other costs related to hosting evacuees beyond the typical operating expenses of the business. Those requesting reimbursement should send an invoice to valemountrecovery@ before June 4th. Invoices should have the Village of Valemount listed as the recipient, and should specify that the invoice is for the costs of hosting the 2024 Jasper evacuees. The firm suggests including supporting documentation such as receipts, room lists, lists of evacuees or other documents alongside the invoice. The Municipality of Jasper will include invoices from the Village of Valemount in its reimbursement requests to the Alberta Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services. Once the province reimburses Jasper, the municipality will pass on the approved reimbursement requests to Valemount, and the Village will distribute reimbursed funds. By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Rocky Mountain Goat
