Huge wildfire burns down part of western Canadian town; rain in forecast

A raging wildfire has burned down part of the western Canadian tourist town of Jasper and firefighters were working on Thursday to save as many buildings as possible, authorities said.

Jasper is in the middle of Jasper National Park, in the province of Alberta. The town and the park, which draws more than 2 million tourists a year, were evacuated on Monday, when officials estimated there were 15,000 visitors in the park.

"As the pictures and videos circulating online show, significant loss has occurred within the town site," Parks Canada said in a statement, but gave no details.

Officials said that at one point on Wednesday the flames in Jasper had reached a height of 400 feet and were moving at 15 meters (50 feet) a minute.

Ashley Kliewer, co-owner of a restaurant in the middle of Jasper, said she had been informed the entire east end of the town had burned down.

"I am absolutely devastated. ... I don't think anyone will be returning to Jasper any time soon and life is not going to be anywhere near what it was - it really is the end of an era," she told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

The Alberta government is due to brief media at 11 am local time (1700 GMT).

Environment Canada is forecasting 10 mm (0.4 inches) to 20 mm of rain for Thursday, which might help firefighters.

There are currently 175 wildfires burning in Alberta, more than 50 of which are out of control. Around 10 of those blazes are close to the border with British Columbia, where dozens of fires are also out of control.

The federal government said in April that high temperatures and tinder dry forests meant this could be one of the worst years ever for fires in Canada.

The Jasper Park Lodge, one of the largest hotels in town, said the fire had reached its grounds. The 400-room residence is run by Fairmont, a group owned by France's Accor.

The federal government and other cities in Alberta are sending emergency crews. One major concern for responders is if the fire reaches the Trans Mountain oil pipeline, which can carry 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Edmonton to Vancouver.

"Losing structures, community, is like losing a close friend ... (but) the people have been saved and that is significant. We can find a way to rebuild," Jasper mayor Richard Ireland told the CBC.

The Jasper fire could be one of the most damaging in Alberta since a 2016 conflagration that hit the oil center of Fort McMurray, forcing the evacuation of all 90,000 residents. The blaze destroyed 10% of all structures in the city and shut in more than a million barrels per day of oil output.

Fort McMurray is forecast to receive up to 65 mm of rain in the next day, according to Environment Canada.

-(Reuters)