BANFF – Prescribed fire operations near the Banff townsite in Banff National Park got out of control as temperatures soared on Wednesday afternoon (May 3), forcing the evacuation of Banff Rocky Mountain Resort and horses from a nearby corral.
The Outlook confirmed guests were evacuated from the resort on Banff Avenue after flames – from preparation work for a larger-scale prescribed burn planned for Thursday or Friday – jumped from the west side of Banff Avenue to the east side near the horse corrals and the Mountain View Cemetery at about 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Banff's fire department is on scene and officials at the Town of Banff say their crews on the ground are also helping guide helicopters for fire suppression. There are currently one medium and four intermediate helicopters bucketing the fire.
Parks Canada officials say there is no immediate threat to the Town of Banff and no official evacuation alert.
“The fire remains 'out of control' at this time,” according to a social media post by Parks Canada at about 6:30 p.m.
"Parks Canada is working closely with the Town of Banff and the RCMP to manage the rapidly evolving situation."
Currently, the Banff Legacy Trail and the Banff Avenue/Trans-Canada Highway interchange are closed. Residents and visitors to the Banff townsite are being diverted on the Trans-Canada Highway via the Norquay interchange at the west entrance to town. The highway remains open, but drivers are warned to expect delays due to smoke.
"Motorists are asked to exercise caution if travelling through the impacted area, not to stop on the road, and to follow the direction of traffic flaggers," said Kira Tryon, a public relations and communications officer in Banff National Park in an email statement.
The Town of Banff was quick to send out an emergency alert on Wednesday afternoon.
“Parks Canada’s prescribed burn has crossed from Compound Meadow to the east side of Banff Avenue in the area of Mountain View Cemetery and the horse corrals,” states an emergency alert.
“All people and livestock have been evacuated from the area.”
The Banff Lighthouse Association said all people and horses have been evacuated, with Banff Trail Riders kindly offering to keep horses at their barns on the south side of the Bow River.
“All horses and people on site were evacuated and there was no loss of life, which is paramount because people and livestock are the most important,” said Alanna Pettigrew, the association’s president.
“It’s early in the season, so there weren’t a lot of horses there, but they have been evacuated and they were moved to Banff Trail Riders, who kindly allowed us to move our horses there.”
The Banff Light Horse Association has 42 horse corrals on site. A small number of outbuildings were damaged in the fire, but according to the Town of Banff, firefighters believe there is no risk of more damage to corral infrastructure at this time.
"There’s some damage, but we don’t know the extent of the damage at this point,” said Pettigrew. “It’s a significant event.”
Parks Canada also has horse corrals at the site, where horses are kept in summer and fall for backcountry patrols. It is not known at this point if any of those horse corrals have been destroyed in the fire.
Parks Canada’s fire teams, including participants in the Women-in-Fire Training Exchange (WTREX) who are in an intensive 12-day training exchange May 1-12, began prescribed fire operations on Wednesday.
In preparations for the bigger burn, crews were setting up sprinkler systems around Banff Rocky Mountain Resort and the horse corrals Wednesday, in the event of worst-case scenario of the fire jumping Banff Avenue.
On Wednesday, the crews also started black-lining – the pre-burning of grasses and shrubs adjacent to a control line before igniting a prescribed burn – to protect the wildlife exclusion fence on the Trans-Canada Highway during the main burn.
Weather dependent, the main ignition of the prescribed fire was expected to take place on Thursday or Friday, but more likely on Friday, with forecasts of rain for the weekend to help dampen remnants of the controlled burn.
The goals of the prescribed fire at Compound Meadows, nestled between the Trans-Canada Highway, Banff Avenue and the industrial compound, is to reduce the amount of pine and spruce trees within these meadows, stimulate aspen and grass growth, and restore wildlife habitat in an important wildlife corridor.
It also aims to help to decrease the wildfire hazard to the Town of Banff.
Last spring, Parks Canada successfully burned 125 out of 300 hectares within the Compound Meadows prescribed fire unit on the north side of the Trans-Canada below Cascade Mountain.
The fire danger rating in Banff on Wednesday was high and temperatures reached the mid-20s Celsius.
In neighbouring Canmore, where there was a severe thunderstorm warning on Wednesday afternoon, Canmore-Fire Rescue responded to a report of a vegetation fire off Bow Valley Trail.
The story will be updated as more information comes in.
