These CBC articles are worth a look.
Jasper’s wildfire preparedness work put to the test as out-of-control fires threaten townsite
Parks Canada has been conducting prescribed burns since 2003
Excerpt:
For years, Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper have removed trees and branches, logged a firebreak, ignited controlled burns and asked residents to clear yard debris in hopes of protecting the forest-nestled town from a dangerous blaze.
Those mitigations may now be put to the test as out-of-control wildfires bear down on the Jasper townsite, according to wildfire experts.
Thousands of people were forced to flee the Jasper townsite and national park Monday night, as the threat of wildfire grew rapidly.
“A big part of these treatments is not necessarily to stop the fire cold in its tracks, but to slow the fire and keep the fire on the surface rather than spreading fire in the canopy,” said Jen Beverly, a University of Alberta associate professor of agricultural, life and environmental science who studies wildfires.
It remains to be seen if the fuels treatments had any effect….
And there’s another article today:
Blaze that damaged Jasper, Alta., townsite was too powerful to stop, fire experts say
Mike Flannigan, a wildfire expert and professor at Kamloops’ Thompson Rivers University, says a trifecta of weather, geography and fuels can determine the severity of a wildfire.
Jasper National Park has been in a prolonged drought, scientists said. The forest is dense, and full of dead, dry lodgepole pine trees destroyed by a mountain pine beetle infestation. Flannigan said that strong wind funnelled the fire and its detritus down the valley toward the townsite.
He said the blaze became so large, it created its own thunderstorm — a phenomenon that also drove the Horse River wildfire on its destructive path into Fort McMurray in 2016.
In these conditions, the airborne embers the fire is spewing out can travel a couple of kilometres, Flannigan said. It leaves natural firebreaks like rivers, lakes and roads futile to stop the spread.
“And when the fires are that intense, there’s not much you can do to stop it,” Flannigan said during CBC Radio’s live coverage of the emergency on Thursday morning.
…
The fire should renew a conversation about the work all forested Canadian communities could be doing to prevent nearby blazes from becoming so threatening, he said. Those mitigations include thinning the surrounding forest, removing dead wood, constructing buildings with less flammable materials and considering more controlled burns and traditional Indigenous fire practices.