A series of enormous, fast-moving wildfires may have devastated half of the historic Canadian town of Jasper as of Thursday night, the BBC reported.
The fires started burning Monday, leading to entire streets being leveled throughout the Canadian province of Alberta. The fires continue to burn out of control as of Thursday morning, according to the BBC. More than 20,000 tourists and 5,000 residents fled or have been evacuated from the area surrounding Jasper National Park.
Officials believe a lightning storm started the fire, which escalated Wednesday due to high winds, the BBC reported. It engulfed Jasper from two sides. “It [was] just a monster at that point,” Parks Canada fire management director Pierre Martel said of the situation. “There are no tools we have in our tool box to deal with it.”
❗️🔥🇨🇦 – A wildfire that ripped through the Canadian community of Jasper, Alta., on Wednesday night left large areas of the city incinerated.
Video shared on social media on Thursday shows that blocks and blocks of buildings were destroyed by fire.
The wildfire, turned into a… pic.twitter.com/96anih95bD
— 🔥🗞The Informant (@theinformant_x) July 25, 2024
There are no words. Jasper is burned to the ground. 💔 pic.twitter.com/lV8koLhzUR
— Ryan Jespersen (@ryanjespersen) July 25, 2024
Canada: Devastating wild fires destroying large parts of the Jasper National Park in British Columbia.
Jasper wildfire reaches townsite, ‘multiple’ structures and hotels
on firehttps://t.co/WZ8LPWrNeJ pic.twitter.com/mC4MebgGoZ— I’m No Angel (@HappyCamper2626) July 26, 2024
Flames reached upwards of 328 feet into the sky, allowing the fire to spread “an inordinate amount of space in a very little amount of time,” one official said, the BBC noted. (RELATED: News Censorship On Facebook Is Endangering Wildfire Evacuees In Canada, Residents Say)
It reportedly took less than 30 minutes for the fire to move three miles to the town. “Any firefighter will tell you there is little to nothing you can do when you have a wall of flames coming at you like that,” Alberta’s minister for public safety, Mike Ellis, said of the situation.
Crazy Videos Show Extreme Impact Of Canada’s Wildfires On US | @DailyCaller https://t.co/9yaofarXUN
— KAY SMYTHE (@KaySmythe) June 7, 2023
The true extent of the damage is still emerging as hundreds of firefighters from around the world make their way to support the response. Wildfires burned throughout Canada in 2023, sending smoke as far south as the Carolinas. (RELATED: Radar Reveals Insane Wildfire Smoke Engulfing North America)
Reports suggest our northern neighbor may have another difficult year of natural disasters on their hands, despite the overall number of wildfires dropping globally over the last 20 years, according to the BBC.
No deaths have been reported at the time of writing.
