A new report commissioned by the Town of Jasper — and published last week — suggested the Alberta government complicated the response to the devastating 2024 wildfire that tore through the historic national park and townsite.

Despite the authors purportedly not wanting to levy blame at any party involved, the report seemingly points a finger at provincial authorities, despite numerous failures by the federal government.

On Friday's Rebel Roundup livestream, hosts Sheila Gunn Reid and David Menzies dug into the details.

The fire became uncontrollable for a few reasons, Sheila said. “Parks Canada did not clear out the pine beetle fuel load, they left it standing,” she explained, noting the trees killed by the infestation acted as kindling for any potential blaze. 

Go Ad Free

Federal authorities also “installed the wrong fire hydrants in the town, so that it was incompatible with outside fire trucks to come in,” she added, meaning firefighters were limited in their ability to respond.

In addition, the federal government prevented trucks unable to connect to these hydrants from going to rivers and lakes to suck up water and even turned away highly trained private firefighting crews.

Alberta's government “came into clean up the mess,” Sheila said, pointing out that nearby Hinton, which the province was responsible for, managed its fire much better.

Given the issues highlighted by Sheila, David said the report “makes no sense.”

Look at the bright side, David said in jest. “If indeed Alberta becomes an independent nation or the 51st state, I guess those Canadian national parks become provincial parks, and you can use the proper stewardship when it comes to forest management and firefighting.”