MONTREAL: An “out of control” wildfire has devoured up to half of the main town in western Canada’s popular Jasper National Park, authorities said, with 400 foreign firefighters called in to help battle the blaze.
While the fire has so far caused no casualties, as many as 25,000 residents and tourists were evacuated from the area before the conflagration suddenly grew in size, overtaking firefighters.
In Alberta province, more than 170 fires were active, including more than a dozen in the Fort McMurray region, a hub of oil sands development.
British Columbia, Alberta’s neighbouring province, was grappling with 400 active fires, more than half of which were burning out of control.
Fifty-six fires have started in the last 24 hours alone, authorities said.
“There is no denying that this is the worst nightmare for any community,” said Danielle Smith, Alberta province’s premier, adding that damage to the town was estimated at between “30 to 50 percent.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called images of the damage “heartbreaking,” and said his government had asked more than 400 firefighters from Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Africa to aid local authorities.
“Thank you for your courage, and for working non-stop to fight these wildfires,” he said in a post on social media platform X.
A video circulating on social media showed the city of Jasper’s streets covered in ash, with cars turned to charred carcasses and buildings reduced to rubble.
In places, the flames reached a height of 120 metres (390 feet) and were moving at a speed of 15 metres per minute.
Jasper National Park, Canada’s largest, is known for its mountains, glaciers, lakes and waterfalls, and attracts 2.5 million visitors every year.
Firefighters were battling a fast-moving wildfire in the US state of California, authorities said, with more than 3,500 people forced to flee their homes.
The Park Fire broke out Wednesday evening, on the last day of a heat wave affecting the region.
More than 1,150 personnel were deployed to fight the blaze, which was only three percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire).
As of 6pm local time (0100 GMT) on Thursday, the fire had enveloped 124,949 acres (50,565 ha), according to CalFire.
More than 3,500 people had evacuated the area, Governor Gavin Newsom said.
The town of Chico, under threat from the fire, is located just 12 miles (20 kilometres) west of Paradise, a town that was destroyed by a massive wildfire in 2018, resulting in the deaths of 85 people.
The cause of the Park Fire remains under investigation, according to CalFire.
A 42-year-old man suspected of sparking it was arrested “after an unknown male was seen pushing a car that was on fire into a gully” near the origin of the fire, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said in a statement.
The car completely burned, spreading the flames that caused the fire in the park, the statement added.
On Thursday, the National Weather Service issued a “red flag” weather warning for “critical fire weather conditions” in the area, including wind gusts and low humidity.
The western United States has experienced several heat waves since the beginning of June, and dozens of fires are currently burning in the region.
Oregon, California’s northern neighbour, is battling a megafire that is the largest in the country, having ravaged more than 268,000 acres of forest and prompting evacuations in a rural region.
The raging flames have created vast columns of smoke, affecting air quality as far away as neighboring Idaho.
