A Jasper fire chief watched as his home went up in flames

The fire chief in the Canadian town of Jasper made the difficult decision to withdraw as he watched his house burn, to protect the safety of his workers.

“We had to make the call to get out of the zone and let things go,” Mathew Conte said he told the CBC broadcasterhe remembers the time last week when firefighters had to go back while fighting a fire that was destroying a community.

Officials said about 30% of buildings in the Canadian Rockies town were destroyed, many of them homes.

Cool, wet weather provided a break over the weekend and firefighters worked to protect the entire township ahead of the forecasted weather.

The inferno – the largest the park has seen in a hundred years – reached the town of Jasper, Alberta, with a population of about 5,000, on Wednesday evening.

The fire, with flames reaching up to 100m (330ft) at one point, sped towards the city that night. Pushed by a strong wind, it jumped 5km (3 miles) in 30 minutes.

Pictures released over the weekend of the devastation in the popular tourist town of Jasper National Park show homes and businesses smoldering and burned to the foundations.

Mr. Conte, who was directing the fire brigade on the ground when the fire broke out, said he personally saw his house burst into flames.

“I saw the stages from when my house started to burn to the end,” he told Global Newsadding that the sight was “overwhelming”.

“I had to put it behind me and focus on the work I'm doing,” he said.

Many park workers, as well as the city's mayor, also lost their homes to the fire.

Officials are now planning to re-enter the stage now that all fires in the community have been extinguished, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Monday, although there is no firm timeline for that.

The wildfire has burned more than 79,000 hectares (32,000 acres) of land so far.

It was started by lightning early last week. A massive effort by the city's transportation and park visitors has been credited with the fact that no injuries or deaths have been reported.

Firefighters expect to work the wildfire for at least the next three months, officials said over the weekend.

Another wildfire is also burning near Miette Springs, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Jasper National Park.

The group of fires has been named the Jasper Wildfire Complex and is among 129 wildfires burning in the province of Alberta as of Monday.

The animals in the area that call Jasper National Park home are also affected.

“In addition to the fire, the unusual nature of wild animals, such as bears and elk, is directing them to a safe place,” the park said in a statement on Sunday.

One female bear, tracked by a GPS collar, was hiding with her two cubs in a wetland near the Athabasca River as the fire raged Wednesday.

The bear survived and appears to be healthy.

“He has been eating a mixture of berries and clover on the edge of the Jasper Park Lodge golf course,” the park said.

Although some animals were killed by the fire, wildlife officials said the fires are “a natural process and we expect the animals to find new habitats”, although the fire will have a lasting impact.

The park is home to 53 species of mammals, including moose, bears, elks, mountain goats and caribou.

The next week could be a challenge for firefighters.

“Weather forecasts indicate that drier conditions will make it easier for wildfires to grow, making progress now more important,” the park said in a statement Sunday night.