Report says Alberta government created command challenges fighting Jasper wildfire

A report into a wildfire that devastated the Rocky Mountain resort town of Jasper last summer says crews did their best but command and control was hampered by the Alberta government.

The report was commissioned by the town and surveyed participants and firefighters who battled the wind-whipped blaze that destroyed a third of buildings in the community located in Jasper National Park.

While the report says it wasn't meant to assign blame, it notes that town and Parks Canada officials trained together and had an integrated command structure, but things became challenging when the province got involved.

It says the Alberta government, while not jurisdictionally responsible to lead the crisis, made things more difficult with regular requests for information and by seeking to exercise decision-making authority.

The report says the interference disrupted the focus of incident commanders and forced them to spend precious time managing inquiries and issues instead of fighting the fire and leading the re-entry of residents.

“The response to the Jasper Wildfire Complex demonstrated the effectiveness of the strong Unified Command established by the Municipality of Jasper and Parks Canada,” said the report, issued Thursday.

“Provincial involvement added complexity to the response as the Province of Alberta, though not jurisdictionally responsible to lead the incident, regularly requested information and sought to exercise decision-making authority," stated the report.

“While Alberta Wildfire actively supported firefighting operations and participated in the (incident management team), jurisdictional overlap with the province created political challenges that disrupted the focus of incident commanders, leading to time spent managing inquiries and issues instead of directing the wildfire response and re-entry.”

A spokesman for Alberta Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said they were working on a response.

Jasper officials said they were not able to comment on the report but could do so Friday.

The fire entered the town last July 24, with 25,000 residents and visitors forced out days earlier. 

The residents were out for three weeks.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken