More than three weeks after all Jasper residents were forced to flee the town due to wildfires, their return began Friday morning.
They were greeted by sooty tree stumps, mounted police and long rows of orange traffic cones. A banner at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) checkpoint in the Rocky Mountain resort town wished them a safe return.
Residents arrived in cars, trucks and RVs in single file. One pickup truck had a refrigerator in its bed. They drove along the main highway through Jasper National Park to where it branches off to the east side of town.
At that point, police used pylons to divide the two-lane highway into three. Officers patrolling the road advised residents to use the right lane to enter the city, while those passing by were asked to stay in the middle and continue driving.
The sky was partly cloudy and the air was thick with the smell of smoke. Those approaching from the east could see swathes of trees reduced to black branches, alongside patches of green grass.
Only community residents were allowed to return. Park and city officials said they wanted to give residents time and privacy to assess the damage to homes and businesses before visitors returned. No date has been set for full access to the community.
The return comes 25 days after wildfires cut off road access and forced the town’s 5,000 residents and nearly 20,000 park visitors to flee west to British Columbia on the night of July 22.
Two days later, flames overwhelmed fire crews and swept through the city, destroying 358 buildings, most of them businesses and homes, leaving the remaining two-thirds of the city intact or damaged by smoke, soot and water.
Key infrastructure, including water treatment plants and schools, has been spared, but much work remains.
School officials are working to repair smoke-damaged schools before the start of the school year in September.