Thousands Flee as Police Conduct Door-to-Door Checks in Jasper Due to Approaching Wildfire

July 23, 2024 TruthUSA

Police are conducting door-to-door checks in Jasper, Alta., to ensure all 10,000 residents and visitors have fled the town located at the heart of one of the nation’s most famous national parks as the flames from an approaching wildfire creep closer.

The entire national park was issued an evacuation order just after 10 p.m. July 22 after a fire approaching from the south placed the town at risk and closed highways to the east and south.

The result was an endless line of slow-moving cars and trucks heading west through the mountains to B.C. under dark, smokey skies.

Many evacuees sought refuge for the night in Valemount, B.C., a town of 1,000 approximately 120 kilometres west of Jasper.

While wildfire evacuees forced to flee Jasper were initially told to drive to British Columbia, many were rerouted back into Alberta because B.C. has its hands full with its own wildfires and evacuations, Alberta Emergency Management Agency managing director Stephen Lacroix said during a July 23 video

press conference

.

“The issue is the severity of wildfire activity and evacuations in B.C. proper,” Mr. Lacroix said. “That’s why the decision was made there to route people back into Alberta through the safest route available, given the fire conditions.”