Alberta national park evacuated; firefighters ready to defend its buildings
WATERTON, Alta. — A town in an Alberta national park that would normally still be teeming with late summer visitors is now empty except for emergency workers who are preparing to save its buildings from a wildfire.
“The only people left in town are for firefighting purposes,” RCMP Cpl. Curtis Peters said Saturday from the Waterton townsite, a day after Parks Canada ordered the evacuation of Waterton Lakes National Park.
“Any non-essential personnel have left.”
Firefighters were busy in Waterton, however, getting ready in case the Kenow fire, which has been burning for over a week in British Columbia near the boundary with Alberta, advanced to the edge of the community.