Parks Canada has released its fire management newsletter on fire activity over the summer, and what will be done over the winter in the continued initiative to lessen Jasper’s forest fire risk. 

While it was seen as a damp, rainy summer, Parks says it was actually the driest ever recorded. Jasper received only eight per cent of it’s normal average rainfall in June, which is one of the most important months when it comes to precipitation in the park. 

The temperatures dropped below average from July to October, but precipitation remained average overall. The report stated that next year’s spring forest conditions will rely on snowfall over the winter. 

In an average year, the Jasper National Park fire team responds to about 24 forest fires, half of which are usually human-caused. 

The forest fire risk was set at high or extreme for almost half of the summer from June to August, and the Initial Attack Fire Crew, along with a helicopter, remained on stand-by during that time. There were 10 fires that Parks crews responded to – all of them human caused.

“They were all very small,” said Kim Weir, fire communications officer for Parks Canada.

Illegal campfires are the main cause of human-started forest fires. Cigarettes are a common trigger as well. One butt can ignite in less than a minute, and spark a fire that can burn at a rate of 20 kilometres per hour. 

Weir said that despite public information, illegal camping is still happening around Jasper. This demographic is the most likely to be caught with illegal fires. 

“I think that’s probably a hard group of people to reach,” Weir said. “I don’t know what motivates people to set up an illegal campground.”

Park Wardens take the offence very seriously when a group is caught with a fire outside of approved fire grates. A hefty fine and an appearance in court is usually the result of being caught.

“We take it seriously,” Weir said. “Most of the illegal campfires are going to be close to town.”

Many people believe that by putting a ring of rocks around a fire, it is protected from spreading. But Weir said the fire can burn into the ground.

“We still have an unnatural build up of fuels out there,” she said.

Human-caused fires are generally a serious threat to the community, as they are often started close to populated areas. The cost of putting out a small forest fire can reach $12,000 if a helicopter is needed. More serious fires can stretch to a budget of $50,000 a day. 

“The cost is pretty huge in putting out those forest fires,” Weir said. 

The last significant fire in the Jasper area was the Mount Cumnock fire in 2009, which spread in the backcountry.

“It did have the potential to get into the Athabasca Valley,” Weir said. 

Parks carried out prescribed burns this season, including 12 hectares along the fireguard on the Pyramid Bench in October. The burns dealt with over-mature, less healthy and dense forests that have been created due to years of fire suppression. Prescribed burns in Jasper National Park encourage Douglas Fir forests and grasslands. 

This winter there will be continued prescribed burns along the Fiddle River Fireguard on the eastern gates of the park along Highway 16 to Hinton. Smoke may be visible along the highway as the four-person crew works. The area that is set to burn is a 73-hectare patch along the fireguard to restore fire’s natural role in the Athabasca Valley. 

Fireguard work will also continue in the Bench Lakes area. 420-hectares is earmarked to be burned to connect six lakes – Marjorie, Hibernia, Cabin, Mina, Riley and Patricia – to the west of the Jasper townsite. The burns will create a line of protection for the town and restore critical Douglas Fir habitat. 

Residents of Jasper may have noticed smoke in the area recently, near the Jasper Tramway and behind the town near the Pyramid Lake Road. Crews have been burning remaining slash piles from this summer’s Fire Smart forest thinning work. This work will continue throughout the winter. 

In December the Fire Smart work will continue, with a contractor set to use a Spyder Hoe to thin areas west of Stone Mountain. After Christmas, the thinning will continue, and more smoke will be spotted as the slash piles are lit up. 

Other Fire Smart work includes the establishment of strategic wildfire control lines upwind of Jasper that will help firefighters in the event of a forest fire. The lines can be used to slow or steer a fire away from the townsite. 

The fire management report also identified other important initiatives Parks has undertaken this year to manage area forests and reduce fire risk. 

Parks did vegetation control with non-native plants in the area, removing 711 bags of invasive plants from roadsides, backcountry trails and other areas around Jasper. An aerial and ground survey has been conducted since 1998 to monitor the risk of the Mountain Pine Beetle, and its spread into the Jasper National Park. In the Miette and Athabasca Valleys, only 115 new trees were found to be affected by the destructive beetle. This is down from an average of 300 over the past six years. The beetle has never been spotted past the Palisades Day Use Area.