Devastating wildfire burns down part of western Canadian tourist town
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00:00Plumes of smoke rose into the orange sky as a massive wildfire continued to spread through
00:07Jasper National Park.
00:10The World Heritage Site and the nearby town of Jasper were both engulfed in flames on
00:14Thursday as strong winds caused the blaze to spiral out of control.
00:20Visibly distraught, the Alberta province premier said up to half of the town's structures
00:25had been destroyed by the fire.
00:28Homes and businesses have been lost to a wildfire that people are calling a wall of
00:33flames.
00:34There is no denying that this is the worst nightmare for any community.
00:37Right now the wildfire is still out of control and crews are working in dangerous conditions
00:42to try and protect critical infrastructure in the town.
00:47The rapidly spreading fire had prompted some 25,000 people to flee earlier this week, meaning
00:52the town of Jasper was largely empty when the flames arrived.
00:57Many evacuees headed to the city of Calgary, where they were directed to emergency shelters.
01:02But some were turned away when they first arrived, prompting the city's mayor to issue
01:07an apology for what she said was a communication issue.
01:11To those evacuees who did not immediately receive assistance, I apologize sincerely.
01:16I can only imagine what it must have been like to have to rapidly evacuate and then
01:20drive 12 to 15 hours to show up here and be met with closed doors.
01:26Fire management authorities said lightning, strong winds and drought caused the fire to
01:30spread rapidly, and that the only option for now was to get out of the way.
01:36Alberta province has seen scorching hot temperatures in recent weeks, causing more than 170 wildfire
01:42across the province, including 54 labelled as out of control.