Capital region firefighters heed Jasper's call for help

Parkland County and St. Albert firefighters were some of many fire departments that came to Jasper National Park's aid when wildfires spread in the region.

Brian Cornforth, fire chief of Parkland County, Told CTV News Edmonton that he reached out to offer help at the early stages of the fire.

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"We were on scene in Jasper throughout the whole fire event. During the evacuation of the incident management team, our structural protection team stayed in Jasper on the night the fire came in on Wednesday evening," Cornforth said.

Cornforth's crew of six set up sprinkler systems near critical infrastructure before the flames came in.

"That fire came in … very intense. Very high winds of 150 kilometres an hour or more, and high heat embers were transferred from the forest canopy into the community," he added.

Cornforth was also there when the Fort McMurray wildfires tore through the city back in 2016.

"Unfortunately, I have seen this before in my time in Fort McMurray, where we had different fronts come into the community.

"But this one was a little bit more closer to home – It's my hometown," he said.

While Cornforth and his team extinguished the flames, Cornforth saw his mother's home and the church he was baptized in burned to the ground.

"It was very tough to watch that ... but I know we don't have any life lost in this situation."

"That's what we have to reflect on."

Eight firefighters from St. Albert arrived in Jasper on July 25.

"We got there before three in the morning and immediately they put us to work," said acting lieutenant Troy Fisher. "It was quite overwhelming to roll into a town in the middle of night and to see a glow of red across the structures and across the town."

Jay Howells, a firefighter from St. Albert, traveled to Jasper to help contain structure fires knowing that he might see his sister's home destroyed.

"Jasper holds a special place in my heart. My sister and my brother in law live there and their three kids," Howells said. "It meant a lot to me to be able to go and send pictures back of their home that was saved."

Fire crews estimate 20 to 30 different municipalities helped save the town during a critical time of the wildfires.