Jasper residents learned what criteria would need to be met before they could return home after wildfires forced them to evacuate last week.
The Alberta government hosted a "Telephone Online" town hall on Monday evening for evacuees to receive answers to any questions.
One submitted question was why residents couldn’t return even if their home hasn’t been damaged.
Jasper CAO Bill Given replied that the townsite was not currently safe, and hazards such as fire-damaged trees would need to be addressed before re-entry could begin.
“All of the combined teams are working hard to ensure that the townsite is safe for residents to come back,” Given said.
“That includes providing fencing around destroyed areas and ensuring that there are no other hazards that would cause any risk to life safety. Please be assured that this is top priority.”
The Jasper Emergency Advisory Committee has determined criteria to guide the Municipality of Jasper in its re-entry plans.
Among the criteria, Parks Canada will have to identify that the wildfire is not an imminent threat to the townsite.
Hazards in the townsite must also be secured or mitigated.
Emergency services, critical services and retail services will all need to be restored to a basic level of service.
Finally, a formal re-entry plan will have to be approved.
The municipality noted that criteria are not intended to be sequential and will be addressed concurrently.
“You can see the variety of factors that need to be in place for us as Jasperites, all of us as Jasperites, to be able to return home safely,” Given said.
“Life safety has to be our top priority. We have made it through this incident with no impact to life, and we want to ensure that we keep it that way.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said crews would have to go door-to-door to ensure homes are energized.
“When we were there, there was actually a telephone or a power pole that was down, so that's one of the other hazards that will have to be repaired to make sure that electricity can go to everybody's homes.”
Freezers and fridges with food in them would also have to be carefully removed, and the grocery stores would need to be restocked.
Smith noted how the Seton - Jasper Healthcare Centre had been slightly damaged and needed to be assessed.
As well, only one drug store has survived, meaning officials will need to make sure residents have access to the necessary medications.
“So, I just thought I'd put that into context because when we have our Emergency Management Cabinet Committee meeting in the morning, those are some of the measures that we're asking for,” Smith said.
“It’s trying to get an assessment of how far along those preparations have been made.”
Mike Ellis, minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, added that water testing and air quality testing would also have to be conducted.
“So, all that stuff has to be taken into consideration right now, and from just an incident command perspective, it's simple as saying we need to make sure that the scene is safe, and at the current moment, the scene is not safe, but I can tell you, there are a lot of people working very hard to make that scene safe.”
Officials also took various questions regarding insurance, supports for evacuees, the eventual rebuilding and other topics.
Jasper National Park remains closed to the public and under evacuation order.
Roughly 30 per cent of structures in town have been lost to the fire, and the wildfire remains out of control.
No casualties or significant injuries have been reported, and the wildfire has not significantly grown as of Monday morning, although the forecasted weather for later this week is expected to heighten fire risks.
A recording of the town hall and other relevant information for evacuees can be found on the Alberta government’s webpage for active emergency updates.
