A wildfire burns as an empty street in Jasper, Alta. is shown in this Wednesday, July 24, 2024 handout photo from the Jasper National Park Facebook page. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Facebook, Jasper National Park *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Medicine Hat News
The worsening wildfire situation that forced the evacuation of Jasper caused Premier Danielle Smith to cancel a number of appearances today at the Medicine Hat Stampede, her staff announced this morning.
Holding back tears, Smith led a press briefing at about 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.
“We’ve all see on of the news and social media the horrific images coming out of Jasper,” she said. “This is the worse nightmare for Jasper… but you are not alone, all Albertans are with you.”
“We will continue to stand by you.”
The Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA was scheduled to be the honorary parade marshall in Thursday’s Medicine Hat Stampede parade, give an address to the Stampede President’s lunch on the grounds, and later attend the first night of rodeo action at the grandstand.
“Given the escalating wildfire situations in our province, notably in Jasper, I will be cancelling my scheduled appearances in Medicine Hat today in order to dedicate my full attention to working with our teams to handle the ongoing and evolving wildfires burning in the province,” Smith said in a statement provided to the News.
Smith toured Taber area on Wednesday, meeting with local council’s and visiting infrastructure projects, apparently en route to Medicine Hat.
The marshal’s parade carriage carried Stampede president Byron Cavan and his wife as it led the parade in the city centre.
In Jasper, fast-moving wildfire destroyed buildings and chased some wild land firefighters away with dangerously poor air quality on Wednesday night.
The social media account for Jasper National Park says the fire has caused significant loss within the townsite, but the specific locations or neighbourhoods affected are not being reported.
On the social media platform X Wednesday night, the account for Fairmont’s Jasper Park Lodge says the flames have reached the hotel’s grounds, but the extent of damage, if any, is not yet known.
As the flames consumed more fuel, officials say the air quality dropped to dangerous levels, prompting fire crews without breathing apparatus to evacuate to the nearby community of Hinton.
[Editor’s note: this version of the article includes updated comment and corrects that the marshal carriage carried Stampede board representatives.]
