The Jasper re-entry on Friday will now be for residents only, officials announced Wednesday.
Previously, the incident management team had said there was no way to keep non-residents from returning to town on Friday.
They have now walked that statement back.
“Re-entry on Aug. 16 is for residents only,” Parks Canada said in a post on its website on Wednesday.
“Resident security concerns have been heard. Your safe return is our priority. We are in this together.”
You can’t really blame them. It’ll be a lot easier to pick up the pieces without a bunch of lookie-loos getting in the way (and they don’t need even the occasional would-be looter, either). The visitors can wait until residents have settled back in and surviving shops and services are back up.