Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Hinton, Alta., to get a briefing on the status of the Jasper wildfire, as well as meet with the province’s premier and evacuees who fled the blaze that destroyed a third of the town.
Trudeau toured the mobile incident command centre in Hinton on Monday, but was not expected to tour the town of Jasper itself. He was expected to meet with evacuees later in the afternoon.
Wearing a blue shirt with rolled up sleeves and blue jeans, Trudeau walked into the command centre, where he greeted Premier Danielle Smith as well as the province’s public safety minister, Mike Ellis, and shook hands with wildfire officials and military personnel.
He also participated in a moment of silence to honour a firefighter who died over the weekend.
After meeting with Trudeau, Smith told reporters there is work to do collaboratively with the federal government to help Jasper rebuild, and she gave temporary housing as an example.
“Not only is that going to be important for the residents that lost their homes, but also the seasonal workers, and on top of that, all the workforce that is going to be needed to help rebuild,” she said.
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More than 20,000 people were evacuated from the town and Jasper National Park nearly two weeks ago as a wildfire inched closer to the area. The national park and townsite remain under an evacuation order.
Bus tours of the devastation for residents whose homes were lost or damaged began Monday, after being postponed on Sunday due to the weekend death of a firefighter who was battling the blaze.
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The 24-year-old who lived in Calgary died Saturday after a tree fell on him. His identity has not been released.
Trudeau has said he is heartbroken by the news and is thinking of the man’s family, friends and fellow firefighters.
Parks Canada has said operators of critical services and critical retail, such as gas stations, grocery stores, pharmacies and schools, were also expected to visit their sites starting Monday for initial damage assessments. The agency explained the visits would help get those services restarted quickly, once conditions allow for the safe return of residents.
The fire risk across Alberta remained high to extreme over the weekend, but Christie Tucker with Alberta Wildfire told a provincial news conference on Sunday that rain was anticipated on Sunday and Monday, which would help firefighters battle numerous blazes across the province.
For the latest information on which areas in Alberta are under an evacuation alert or order due to a wildfire, visit the Alberta Emergency Alert website.
For the latest information on the wildfire status and danger across the province, visit the Alberta Wildfire website.
The latest information on fire advisories, restrictions and bans across the province can be found on the Alberta fire bans website.
For the latest on road closures in Alberta, you can visit the 511 Alberta website.
