Five Tweets on Western Canada’s devastating wildfires

Late Monday of this week, the government of Alberta released an emergency evacuation order for the alpine town of Jasper, as wildfires began to rage nearby. Residents were instructed to leave their homes behind, take only essential items, and drive to safety in nearby British Columbia. A day later, more than 170 wildfires burned throughout Alberta, with some moving towards Jasper National Park. More than 25,000 people have now been evacuated from the park and its surrounding area.

The largest fire, spanning a whopping 10,800 hectares and sitting just eight kilometres from the town, is considered to be among the largest in the park’s history.

Despite the heroic efforts of firefighters, many homes, businesses and historic sites now appear to be destroyed. As of yesterday, almost half of all of Jasper’s buildings could be gone. However, the full extent of the destruction will only be understood once the smoke clears.

Here are five tweets on the devastating wildfires burning through Alberta and B.C.

Earlier this week, the Alberta Emergency Alert Twitter page amplified the municipality of Jasper’s wildfire warning, notifying citizens that everybody in the town had to evacuate and use the only available highway into B.C., Highway 16, to find refuge.

British Columbia’s Monashee Mountains, roughly 80 kilometres away from Jasper, were also engulfed in flames.

In Jasper, soot, smoke and ash rose through the air, making it even more treacherous for evacuees to drive to safety on the dark, narrow, and congested roads. A seemingly never-ending trail of cars lined the highway. In the background, a smokey, pitch-black sky loomed.

Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland told reporters that this week has been “simply absolutely our community’s worst nightmare.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith gave well-wishes and a message of hope to the residents of Jasper who fled the town, and those still there who are fighting the wildfires and trying to save its wastewater treatment plant and the Trans Mountain Pipeline. Wednesday night, it was reported that some firefighters were forced to flee Jasper due to worsening air quality. Parks Canada has recorded some flames reaching 400 feet and moving as quickly as 15 metres per minute.

Premier Smith said she has been in “constant contact” with the federal government, Parks Canada, and the Alberta Emergency Management Agency to put out the wildfires. Thankfully, no deaths have been recorded.

About two days after the Alberta government released the emergency alert and enacted an evacuation order, Harjit Sajjan, the minister of emergency preparedness, approved the Alberta government’s request that the federal government send the Canadian Armed Forces to extinguish the destructive fires.

Finger-pointing has already begun around forest management and which elected officials are most responsible for allowing the fires to get this bad.

Increasingly high temperatures and dry conditions meant Alberta experienced its most destructive wildfire season ever last year. Around 60 percent of the wildfires that burned in 2023 were set off by humans, due to campfires, recreation, agricultural operations, or industry. One-third were caused by lightning strikes.

The federal government has estimated putting out forest fires costs Canada between $800 million and $1.5 billion dollars every year.