Lightning sparked a fire on Chetamon Mountain around 1:30 am. on Thursday and had grown to more than 400 hectares as of Saturday morning, the national park said in a social media post. The fire is located well north of Jasper Township – about 315 kilometers southwest of Edmonton – and is spreading mostly northeast, away from the community. No nearby communities are at risk, the post said. However, the municipality issued a statement on Facebook encouraging residents to prepare for a power outage. The post also said the township is working with ATCO to prepare to switch to a power generator if necessary. On Saturday morning, Environment and Climate Change Canada issued special air quality statements for the Jasper region, as well as the Hinton-Grande Cache region, which remain in effect, however. A thick plume of smoke traveling into the Hinton area is causing poor air quality and reduced visibility, the statement said. People in the affected area may experience increased coughing, throat irritation, headache or shortness of breath, the weather service said, adding that children, the elderly and people with heart or lung disease are at particular risk. On Friday, Parks Canada closed Snaring and Celestine Lake roads and the surrounding area, including nearby campsites. They also restricted aircraft taking off and landing at Jasper Airstrip, according to two separate bulletins issued by the agency. Parks Canada cited public safety during the firefight as the reason for the actions, according to each release. Anyone violating the restrictions could be fined up to $25,000 under Canada’s National Parks Act, the notices said. The fire is burning on the upper slopes of the mountain, making it inaccessible to firefighters on the ground, according to Jasper National Park. Helicopters and air tankers are working to extinguish the fire from above. On Saturday morning, “specialist fire crews” began constructing fire control lines to protect the Jasper Township power line. Parks Canada will have a national incident management team in place Sunday to assist with emergency response. The fire is outside the Alberta Wildfire Forest Protection Area, but the agency is assisting Parks Canada, according to the provincial fire control panel. There are about 50 other active fires across the province, according to the dashboard. The Alberta Wildfire has placed most of Alberta, including Jasper National Park, under fire warnings, restrictions or bans.
