The municipality of Jasper has been warned of the possibility of “prolonged” power outages as the Chathamon Mountain wildfire continues to affect power lines in the national park.
Around 4 a.m. Monday, an out-of-control wildfire in Alberta’s Jasper National Park damaged power lines, causing a permanent power outage. On Sunday evening, power was cut temporarily as flames burnt power lines on the main ATCO road connecting the city.
The city is working to switch to generator power to ensure critical infrastructure, including the hospital, traffic lights, water wells and wastewater treatment facility, remain operational. Utility provider ATCO said power was restored to those major facilities by 5:20 p.m.
While load capacity is being tested, officials say additional power could be provided to parts of the city in a “phased” approach. Details of this “repower” plan are forthcoming.
“Residents and visitors should be prepared for extended disruption,” Richard Ireland, Jasper’s mayor, said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
“The wildfire does not yet pose a risk to the City of Jasper, although we are currently unable to offer our visitors the full services they would normally expect at this uncertain time,” Ireland added. “In the face of uncertainty, be prepared. I don’t know how long it can be extended and we don’t know all the capacity issues yet.”
Power to critical infrastructure has been restored in Jasper. We are working with the municipality and @JasperNP on phase 2 to further rebuild. We continue to encourage residents to stay safe and check our website for more outage advice:
— ATCO Electricity (@ATCOElectric) September 5, 2022
As of Monday afternoon, officials estimated the fire was between 5,000 and 7,000 hectares, down from 1,500 the previous day, and still 15 to 16 kilometers from the city site.
Officials are not considering evacuations for the wildfire, which was ignited by lightning early Thursday morning.
Fire crews remained optimistic after three to five millimeters of rain fell overnight.
“We expect the extent to be variable over the next few days,” said Katie Ellsworth, chief of Chetamon Wildfire Plans.
“The rain really bought us a few days so we could get crews into critical areas of this wildfire and facilitate safe and efficient access to our partners at ATCO power so they could repair the power line.”
An emergency reception station was set up at the Jasper Activity Center Monday morning to act as an information center and provide charging stations if emergency generator capacity allows.
“Our crews are working as quickly and safely as possible,” said Amanda Mattern, regional manager for ATCO Electric. “The safety of our customers and our people is our first priority.
“We will continue to monitor the situation, but want to remind residents and visitors to take precautions to stay safe.”
Mattern advised residents to turn off appliances and electronics during the power outage to prevent damage from power surges when power is restored.
The Chathamon Mountain wildfire is burning north of the municipality of Jasper in the Alberta Rockies (supplied).
She also said residents should only open refrigerators and freezers “when absolutely necessary” because they can maintain their internal temperatures for approximately 24 to 36 hours.
The fire also affected a Trans Mountain switch for the pipeline extension running through the park. Ellsworth said the applied fire apparatus was held overnight while the wildfire burned near the scene.
“We will continue to work with our partners at Trans Mountain to ensure the safety of the pipeline and the community,” Ellsworth added.
A concern for responders is that the wildfire is near an area with trees that have been affected by previous mountain pine beetle outbreaks. Trees in those areas can accelerate fire growth, Ellsworth said.
“There may be some increases in fire behavior based on weather and fuel conditions in the coming days,” she added. “However, we have seen our long-term weather reports and they all seem to agree that we will see a decrease in overall temperatures.”
Smoke rises from the Chathamon Mountain wildfire that was ignited by lightning Thursday morning (CTV News Edmonton/Alex Antoneshyn).
Residents and visitors to the national park can receive emergency updates by calling 780-852-6540 or following social media updates posted by the municipality.
Parks Canada will close Wabasso Campground for the season on Monday, earlier than expected, due to power outages and a lack of tourist assistance services available. Officials say the Whistlers and Wapiti campgrounds will remain open.
“While we appreciate your patronage of the Jasper National Park campground, we would encourage you to return in the future when the wildfire situation is resolved,” Parks Canada said in a statement. “Please consider camping elsewhere at this time.”
All affected bookings will be automatically canceled and fees will be refunded.
With files from Kira Markov of CTV News Edmonton
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