A third of the town went in July 2024, and the green is already coming back through it
Lightning started it on 22 July 2024, wind and dry timber did the rest, and 25,000 residents, workers and visitors were put out of the valley. When the fire reached the townsite it took 358 of Jasper’s 1,113 structures, about a third of the town. It burned 32,722 hectares before it was declared under control on 7 September and was not called extinguished until 1 April 2025. Insurers paid 880 million dollars, which puts it among the most expensive disasters in Canadian history, and one firefighter was killed: Morgan Kitchen, 24, of Calgary, struck by a falling tree on 3 August. Jasper is open and working and rebuilding, and a visitor who understands what they are looking at is worth more to the place than one who does not. The burn runs for kilometres along the roads in, and the green coming back through it is the whole story of this forest.
Other places on the map within a couple of hours.
