Emergency Preparedness Week

Be Prepared. Know Your Risks.

Join us for Emergency Preparedness Week (EP Week), a longstanding national event spanning over 25 years in Canada, held annually during the first full week of May.

Throughout EP Week, we will have daily tips to help you equip yourself with the knowledge to Be Prepared and Know Your Risks.



Dear Residents of Jasper,

As we get ready for Emergency Preparedness Week, we can’t help but reflect on everything our community went through last summer.

The wildfire changed our lives, but it also showed just how strong and resilient Jasper really is. The safe evacuation of over 25,000 people proved how important it is to be prepared.

We know these memories may still bring up a lot of emotions. Many of us are still rebuilding—not just our homes and businesses, but our sense of safety too.

That’s why it’s so important to keep talking about emergency preparedness.

Keeping Jasper safe is something we work on all year long, and Emergency Preparedness Week is a reminder for all of us to stay ready.

From May 4 to 10, we’re asking everyone to take a few steps to be better prepared.
 Tools like our evacuation guide, the Alberta Emergency Alert system, and 72-hour emergency kits can make a big difference in keeping you and your family safe during an emergency.

Our experience has shown that being ready doesn’t just help in the moment — it also makes recovering afterward a lot easier.

Knowing what to do in a crisis is the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones.

We invite you to join us in this year’s Emergency Preparedness Week activities.
Learn, get involved, and help keep our community strong and ready for anything.

 

Christine Nadon
Director of Protective & Legislative Services

Mathew Conte
Director of Emergency Management and Fire Chief



 

This year’s Emergency Preparedness Week is May 4 to 10, and the theme is ‘Be Prepared. Know Your Risks.’
 

We all have a responsibility to take action and become better prepared for the range of community emergencies that may affect Jasper. Your ability to look after yourself and your family for at least 72 hours will help focus our first responders on managing the emergency. Jasper's main risk is a wildfire, but other events like a dangerous goods spill, or severe weather could also impact our community.

Knowledge, awareness, and preparedness are our best tools to increase community resilience.

❗ Know the risks – if you know the hazards in your community, you know how to prepare for them.

❗ Download the Alberta Emergency Alert app – receive critical information about an immediate disaster and what action you need to take to stay safe. https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-emergency-alert.aspx

❗Go to www.jasper-alberta.ca/p/alerts and sign up to receive municipal emergency alerts.

❗Build a kit – have all of your important documents and supplies ready to go. It's easier to focus on your safety and well-being if you can grab your kit and go at a moment’s notice.

❗ Make an emergency plan – think about your personal needs to create an emergency plan that works for you and your family. Visit our website at jasper-alberta.ca/p/emergency-information and download the Evacuation Guide, or pick one up at the Jasper Activity Centre. *Assembly point locations will be communicated during  an emergency* 
 

𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

 Building a kit doesn’t have to be hard and doesn’t have to be done all at once.

✔ When you are grocery shopping, add some non-perishable food items to your cart.

✔ When tidying up at home, store any extra items with your emergency supplies.

✔ Make sure your emergency kit is easy to access and kept in a place that everyone in your household knows about.

If you only had 15 minutes notice to evacuate, what would you pack that you could not live without? Making a list of items to grab at the last minute can be helpful. 

Watch the 60 second ‘What Goes In Your Emergency Kit’ video to get some ideas! 

📣Test Alert – Wednesday, May 7 at 1:55 PM 

The Alberta Emergency Alert system will be conducting a province-wide test on Wednesday, May 7 at 1:55 PM.


This alert will be broadcast to TV, radio, and compatible cell phones.

We understand this test may be unsettling, especially following last summer’s wildfire. 

Please know that this is only a test — no action is required.

These tests help ensure emergency alerts work as intended, so we can all stay informed and safe in the event of a real emergency.

🚒𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 🚒

 Join us at the Jasper Fire Hall TODAY (Wednesday, May 7) between 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM for a drop-in event the whole family can enjoy!

✔Chat with local emergency staff

✔Pick up your evacuation guide

✔Learn how we’re working together to stay safe and prepared

✔Fire truck tours, BBQ’d hot dogs, and more fun for the kids!

 

Being wildfire ready can ease the stress of wildfire season. 

Our customized Jasper evacuation guide has important information on: 

📢 Evacuation zones and alerts
📢 How to evacuate
📢 How to make an emergency plan
📢 How to build an emergency kit to be prepared

Click here to download the evacuation guide or pick one up at the Jasper Activity Centre or Library. *Assembly point locations will be communicated during an emergency* 

 

Fire Pit Safety Tips 

Gathering around a fire pit is a great way to enjoy our beautiful Jasper evenings—but in a wildfire-prone area, even small backyard fires require big responsibility. 

As part of Emergency Preparedness Week, here are a few important reminders to help you stay safe and reduce the risk of fire in and around your home:

  • Always check if a Fire Ban is in effect before starting a fire. Visit the Alberta Fire Bans website.
  • Before setting up or using a fire pit, check with your landlord or review your condo bylaws to ensure fire pits are permitted on the property.
  • Don't have a fire if it's windy. 
  • Portable fire pits may be used on a deck, but they must sit on non-combustible material such as brick or stone and not directly on your wooden deck.
  • Fire pits should be at least three metres away from any building or combustible material such as your fence.
  • Fire pits should NOT be under any trees, branches, plants, or other materials that can catch fire.
  • All fires in your fire pit must be kept to a reasonable size; .75 metres high and wide.
  • A mesh screen or ‘spark guard’ should be used to reduce the spread of embers and sparks from wood-burning fire pits.
  • All fires must be fully supervised at all times by at least one person 14 years of age or older. 
  • Always have a nearby way to put out the fire. Easy options are your watering hose or a bucket of water. 

 




❗Evacuation Alerts & Evacuation Orders: 

What’s the difference, and how we will alert you. 

📢 An Evacuation Alert tells people to prepare for an evacuation. While you may not be in immediate danger, evacuating early may be the right choice depending on your circumstance. An Evacuation Alert indicates a serious situation is taking place and everyone should prepare to leave town if an Evacuation Order is issued. 

📢 An Evacuation Order tells people to evacuate within a specific timeframe. This may happen when there is little or no time to notify or following an Evacuation Alert. 

⚡❗ Both types of Alerts will be communicated on the Alberta Emergency Alert and on the municipal alert system. 

In addition to electronic alerts, the event of an Evacuation Order, the town siren will sound continuously and Incident Management staff will be deployed to go door knocking (time permitting) and patrol the streets to alert residents that it is time to go. 

Click here to download the Alberta Emergency Alert App  


Click here to sign-up for municipal emergency alerts  
Reminder of municipal emergency TEST ALERT at 3:00pm today


✍ Emergency Planning for Businesses 

In Jasper, there are many types of situations a business could face. 

Emergency situations - like a power outage, forest fire or chemical spill - can cause interruptions to a business' normal operations. These situations are hard on a business owner and the team of people who work there. 

What can businesses do to prepare?

Check out our Business Continuity Guidebook and Workbook to help prepare your business for any situation.