P.E.I. musician describes 'intense' evacuation of Jasper

The evacuation order that came to Jasper, Alta., Monday in the face of advancing wildfires Monday not was not unexpected, says P.E.I. musician Catherine MacLellan, but still shocking.

MacLellan was taking advantage of a break in her schedule during a tour of western Canada to visit friends in Jasper.

"They warned me, gas up just in case there's a fire but they really didn't think it would happen," said MacLellan.

"By the time we were eating dinner that night we got the alert that there might be an evacuation order coming. From that time on we just started packing up the kids. The kids were in bed by the time the evacuation order came, so I think it was a bit shocking for them. Disorienting, to say the least."

That order came at 10 p.m. Officials wanted the town empty by 3 a.m. Despite the urgency, MacLellan said it was a very slow start.

"It took us four hours just to get out of their driveway onto the street into the line of traffic," she said

"It was just bumper to bumper for hours and hours."

There are three ways out of Jasper, but two of them, the northern and southern routes, had been closed due to danger from the two encroaching fires.

'There's no cell service'

That left just one escape, the western route toward B.C.

"It was scary because there was this feeling that the fire could breech the town at any point. If you were stuck there in traffic and not able to get out, just the thought of that," said MacLellan.

"Once you hit the mountain road there's no cell service, so it's an intense place to be fleeing from in very slow traffic."

The group made it safely to Valemount, B.C. After a few hours rest, MacLellan made the 12-hour drive to Calgary, where she had a place to stay with other friends.

The southern fire has since entered the town. Firefighters are working on structure fires, but several buildings have been reported as lost.

Smoke has forced wildfire fighters lacking ventilation equipment to pull back, and flames more than 100 metres high have been reported.