As the re-entry date for Jasper has been set for Friday (Aug. 16), residents are now wondering what returning home will look like.
Officials answered questions from evacuees regarding the re-entry during a telephone town hall on Monday (Aug. 12).
“Today was a milestone day, a day that our residents had been waiting for ever since the evacuation order at 10 in the evening on Monday three weeks ago,” said Mayor Richard Ireland, referring to the re-entry announcement.
Ireland cautioned that re-entry didn’t necessarily mean habitation at a particular residence and much work still needed to be done to restore services to areas of the town.
He also acknowledged concerns about the role of visitors and noted that even the tourist sector recognized that residents took precedence.
“We recognize that visitation is an absolute necessity for our residents,” Ireland said. “Visitation provides the basis of our economy and we will need that to recover, but we will ask – and our industry partners have asked – visitors to wait.”
Premier Danielle Smith warned that the re-entry date depended on the wildfire situation and progress on restoring critical services.
She noted that schools in Jasper would not be ready in time to welcome students back at the regular time.
“We discovered that, unfortunately, because the heat, some of the windows were left open, and so there is a lot of soot and smoke damage that needs to be cleaned out and we're getting estimates of 30 to 60 days before those schools are able to be re-entered,” Smith said.
Students can be accommodated in Hinton and Edson schools and anyone staying at a reception centre in Edmonton, Calgary or Grande Prairie can get help with finding a nearby school. There is also the option of virtual schooling.
The Seton-Jasper Healthcare Centre will have emergency services on a slightly reduced basis, and non-emergency health-care needs will be addressed at Hinton’s hospital and clinic.
Re-entry will be from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. when Highway 16 is open.
Those who did not attend the town hall will be able to access the recording at alberta.ca/emergency.
‘Significant damage’
The Municipality of Jasper stated in a post that the announcement will allow residents to make travel plans and prepare.
RCMP will be providing security at the townsite as well as monitoring Highway 16 and the park’s gates.
The municipality warned that no temporary housing was available but that all levels of government were working on a plan for housing.
A plan is also in the works for disposing of fouled fridges and freezers, and residents should call their insurer for further direction.
A re-entry guide has been published online to provides more details on the re-entry process. The municipality says the guide will be updated daily.
The guide warned residents that there would be “significant damage and possibly triggering sights” inside Jasper.
Items from balconies or porches may have been moved to the lawn or sidewalk after the evacuation to reduce combustibles next to homes.
The guide also clarified that re-entry and reoccupation were not the same thing.
Anyone staying overnight should bring essential supplies to last for up to 72 hours, including food, drinking water and medication.
Residents with medical conditions that could require hospital care should not return until the hospital is fully operational.
Re-entry criteria
The Incident Management Team plans to have the re-entry criteria met by the re-entry date of Aug. 16.
This includes mitigating hazards, restoring critical services and approving a formal re-entry plan.
Parks Canada must also confirm that the wildfire is no longer an imminent threat to the townsite.
On Monday (Aug. 12), it reported that the northwest end of the wildfire that presented a risk to the townsite was 99 per cent contained or controlled.
Trails, campgrounds and day-use areas will not be included in this phase of the re-entry process.
Parks Canada said many areas in the park still need to be assessed for safety.
The closed areas would need more time to reopen because they still had many risks such as ash pits, reduced air quality, hazardous trees and hazardous waste requiring containment.
Residents can visit the municipality’s website to check the re-entry status.
