Hundreds of firefighters fought an intense blaze on Friday in Jasper, Alberta, as wildfires turned the picturesque town into a hell-scape of flame-licked treetops and buildings burned to ash.
Two fast moving blazes attacked the town from the north and south, forcing 25,000 people to evacuate earlier in the week, and merged into one massive conflagration.
The extent of the devastation remains unknown, but officials said on Thursday that firefighters were rushing to save what they could of the historic town that lies within Jasper National Park in Alberta. As much as half of the town, one official said, may have been destroyed.
In this photo released by the Jasper National Park, smoke rises from a wildfire burning near Jasper, Alberta, Canada, Wednesday, July 24, 2024.
Town buildings seen in Jasper, Alberta prior to the 2024 wildfires.
Parks Canada, the country’s national parks agency, estimated on Thursday night that nearly 140 square miles of the park had been destroyed by the fire.