The night Jasper burned: Radio logs capture minute by minute of town catching fire
Logs provide a deeper understanding of some aspects of the wildfire already reported
It's the evening of July 24 last year. A wall of flames and smoke is encroaching on the mountain town of Jasper, Alta.
At 6 p.m., scribbled handwritten notes begin documenting a series of events in Jasper National Park that would dramatically change the town.
"Deploy engine from fire hall to Willow Ave.," reads the first entry in one of two radio log books of the night.
"Parks 2/Arctic 2 deploying to Petro Can."
At 6:06 p.m. comes the first news of destruction: "Maligne Lodge fully involved."
A little over a year since one-third of the townsite was destroyed by an out-of-control wildfire, documents released to CBC News through a federal access to information request paints one of the most vivid pictures of conditions faced by firefighters and Parks Canada staff in the moments of the blaze.
From the more than 300-pages of Parks Canada documents released to CBC News, some of the most interesting pieces of information are contained within a dozen or so pages of transcribed radio log notes.
These logs provide a deeper understanding of some aspects of the wildfire already reported, and in other cases, new information.
The notes are primarily radio communications between emergency response staff and were taken by the incident management team, which included Parks Canada and municipal staff, who remained within the town of Jasper during critical periods of the fire.
The staff, according to Parks Canada, were assigned to maintain a log of radio transmissions for information continuity and documentation.
"Documentation of radio transmissions and calls to Jasper dispatch or on any complex emergency incident is a common practice for emergency operations," Parks Canada said last week in response to a series of questions about the documents.
"It is a standard and important component of the incident command system and a radio log form exists for incident documentation. In this case, printers were not working due to the power outage.
"At the time these radio logs were being transcribed, the risk to Jasper's dispatch team was deemed too high for them to safely remain in the townsite, and they had already been evacuated. As a result, incident management personnel were assigned to maintain communication records."
In a video released as part of the access to information request, viewers can see just how dangerous the fire was.
Rapid-fire incidents
The days leading up to the fire were hot with temperatures hovering around 30 C. Parks Canada officials told CBC News that conditions for starting a forest fire were prime.
In the late afternoon of July 22, lightning strikes sparked three fires about 30 kilometres south of Jasper.
Within hours, there was an evacuation order for more than 25,000 people and hundreds of firefighters were called to help protect the town.
But soon the fires joined together and started to move toward the Jasper townsite, becoming too big for firefighters to handle.
The flames were hundreds of metres high, flinging embers up to half a kilometre ahead, which started new fires.
Two days later at 6:14 p.m., explosions rock Connaught Drive, the main thoroughfare of Jasper. It's where a Petro Canada gas station is located.
"All stations – explosions on Connaught – not confirmed, but maybe gas stations. Other explosions in townsite," reads the entry.
A minute later, a double structure fire is reported on Geikie Street, another main street in town.
At 6:18 p.m., a small fire on the roof of Petro Canada is being addressed by crews.
By 6:19 p.m., a double roof fire is reported at Brewster Crescent, several blocks away, on the west end of town.
At the exact same moment the log books show multiple issues: the fire is moving toward Pyramid Lake Road, there is a structure fire on Patricia Street, a large brush fire near some condos, there are another two roof fires and the cedar roof of another property is in flames.
At 6:27 p.m., less than 10 minutes after the first report of a fire at Petro Canada, the notes simply say: "roof fully involved at Petro Can. Left beyond control."
The fire continues
For the next 90 minutes, the radio logs document the destruction in real time.
First is a roof fire at Patrica Place at 6:29 p.m.
"One not savable," the log reads.
"Fully involved structure in Cabin Creek. Fully involved garage between Patricia [Street] and Geikie [Street]."
"Pumper on Cabin Creek running low, looking to refill."
At 6:37 p.m. comes the call to protect the town's water supply.
"Priority to protect water well station next to Maligne Lodge. It supplies all suppression to town. Park a crew there and keep it clear. If we lost it, we lose all water in town," the entry reads.
At 6:40 p.m. there's a longer entry.
"Fully involved on corner of Turret and Geikie [streets]. Fire on Swift [Crescent], engine on way by Robson [Street], fully involved roof. Not actionable."
At 6:43 p.m.: "Water well and pump site well protected. Sprinklers holding. Grass already burned. Crew watching it."
"Structure involved on Miette [Avenue] at Bonhomme [Street]," reads the entry at 6:45 p.m.
Another note in a secondary radio log at the very same time reads: "High priority: wastewater treatment plant."
At 6:50 p.m., a request for an engine at the Esso gas station on Connaught Drive is logged.
"The entry reads, "3-4 fully involved structures on Spruce and Geikie [Street]. Both sides of the road. Call for exposure protection."
Following a series of other reports of destruction, including Sunwapta Apartments, the log hits 7:10 p.m.
"Excavator requested to anchor and push back structures by A&W to protect downtown," it reads.
At 7:20 p.m.: "Houses behind A&W fully involved."
"Getting sustained strong west winds. 30 km/h. West edge of fire hung up below the gondola," reads the entry at 7:21 p.m.
In the documents released to CBC News, there is a briefing note with a time stamp of 7:54 p.m. It says house to house fires in the Cabin Creek neighbourhood cannot be halted and heavy equipment is being requested to help stop it.
The brief further says that crews do not have enough engines and resources to address new structural fires. It said additional resources are coming from Alberta and more engines have been requested from B.C. to "get us through the night".
"Tanks exploding every time I go outside. Sounds like a war zone," it reads.
"But remember we've kept all civilians safe. Now about first responders."
As quickly as the fire ripped through Jasper, it was soon over.
By 8:06 p.m. the log books end.
In the aftermath, more than 32,500 hectares burned.
Officials estimated that 358 of the 1,113 total structures were destroyed.
It wasn't until this April that the fire was officially extinguished.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
