Wildfire that roared into Jasper was a wall of fast-moving flame, says fire official [Video]

One of two wildfires threatening Jasper, Alta., raged into the historic resort town Wednesday, consuming homes and businesses in a wall of flame. 

The wildfire, whipped into a firestorm by intense winds, burned with such intensity and speed that plumes of ash and flames shot hundreds of feet into the air. 

James Eastham, a Parks Canada wildfire information officer, said firefighters were faced with a wall of flame that proved impossible to contain. 

“Fire behaviour was intense,” Eastham said in an interview Wednesday night after the flames entered the townsite.

“Fire crews were witnessing 300- to 400-foot flames in a fully involved, continuous crown fire and a fire spread rate of approximately 15 metres per minute.”

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