Only townsite residents to be allowed re-entry into Jasper National Park on Friday

Jasper will reopen to town residents only on Friday as officials implement a system for re-entry.

Plans had previously kept open the possibility of non-residents entering the park.

Jasper National Park officials ended that prospect in an announcement Wednesday, instead detailing how residents of the municipality can pick up resident re-entry guides at the park's east gate for use at an RCMP checkpoint at the east entrance to the town.

"Friday will be a day of deep emotion for residents returning for the first time," Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said in a media availability Wednesday.

"Photographs and images on television do not convey a sense of loss that would be felt in the hearts of residents when they see their homes and their town again."

Ireland said residents have been concerned about privacy issues when dealing with re-entry plans.

Non-residents will be directed to drive through the park on Highway 16 without stopping. The highway will be open between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Media will also be prohibited from entering the town.

Trails and campgrounds remain closed.

Jonathan Large, incident commander with Parks Canada, said details about re-entry for non-residents and those who live outside the townsite will come at a later date.

"There is an active wildfire on the landscape, the fire is still classified as out of control," he said.

"Until a time when, as an incident command team, we can make the recommendation that the fire is no longer a threat to other areas of the park, we're not able to provide timelines for safe re-entry into those areas."

Large said messaging has tried to prepare residents for the smell, which in some areas has taken on an acidic smell as in burning plastics.

The wildfire that devastated Jasper now spans an estimated 33,000 hectares. However, the northwest end of the fire that presents a risk to the townsite is now 99 per cent contained.

A state of emergency remains in place within the municipality and residents must be prepared to leave again at a moment's notice as a wildfire evacuation alert remains in effect.

Residents with homes still standing have been warned that their properties may not be habitable due to internal damage and that basic services remain extremely limited.

Some homes were polluted with smoke. Others were flooded by fire hoses or pipes that burst when underground infrastructure, including water meters, melted in the heat of the flames.

About 25,000 people fled Jasper National Park on July 22 as a pair of wildfires drew dangerously close. Two days later, wind-whipped flames hundreds of feet high overwhelmed firefighters and entered the community.

The park has said that of the 1,113 total structures within the town, 358 were destroyed.