Wildfires force 25,000 to evacuate Jasper resort in Rockies

Buildings in the Canadian tourist town of Jasper have been burning after wildfires forced 25,000 people to evacuate the area on Tuesday, officials said.

The blaze has spread through Jasper National Park, causing “significant loss” within the town, according to park officials on X, formerly Twitter.

Hundreds of wildfires have sparked in the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia (BC).

The region has been hit by more than 58,000 lightning strikes within the last week, sparking new blazes after a three-week heat wave, according to BC Wildfire Service.

Around 1,900 Alberta firefighters have been deployed, assisted by personnel from Alaska and Australia, and are working to save local infrastructure.

That includes the Trans Mountain Pipeline, a Canadian government-owned pipeline that runs through Jasper National Park. As of Wednesday it was still operating, with sprinklers being used to protect it.

There have been more than 400 fires recorded in British Columbia and 176 in the neighbouring province of Alberta.

Fires were first reported in Jasper last week. The town’s mayor, Richard Ireland, told CBC that the town was facing its “worst nightmare”.

Jasper National Park said on X that “air quality had deteriorated” in the area. The park is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies.

After evacuations were issued, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told residents to “leave safely” on Wednesday. In a post on Facebook, she said she was in “constant contact” with the authorities.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government has approved a request for federal assistance for Alberta.

“We’re deploying @CanadianForces resources, evacuations support, and more emergency wildfire resources to the province immediately — and we’re coordinating firefighting and airlift assistance,” Mr Trudeau said on X.

Earlier in the week, several US states including California and Utah were hit by wildfires.

More than 30 million people in the US have been affected by heat warnings since early July, according to the National Weather Service. The warnings are in place in California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state.