As of Thursday afternoon, heart-wrenching images from Jasper show that, at least on some streets, only charred skeletons remain after a wildfire, 400 feet high in some places, ravaged the townsite last night. Elsewhere, fortunately, buildings appeared untouched by the flames, but that’s only so helpful.

Losses have been described as “significant”; from her limited point of view, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith estimated the extent of the damage to be a potential 30 to 50 per cent, but the official toll will come from Parks Canada. And though the fire blew in from Alberta’s forest protection zone, Jasper is the responsibility of the federal government. Thus it’s Ottawa that’s in charge of the park’s forest management and, crucially, fire mitigation.