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The fierce wildfire which swept through the Canadian town of Jasper in recent days melted cars to the road and turned homes to ash.

 

The first images of the devastation at the famous tourist town have emerged, after a 100m (328ft) firewall swept through late on Wednesday.

 

It has been difficult to get a sense of the scale of what happened because the fire burned out-of-control for days.

 

Some 25,000 people were evacuated from the town and the Jasper National Park, in Alberta.

On Friday, authorities from Jasper National Park said 358 of the 1,113 structures in town had been destroyed by the fire, which was caused by a lightning storm

 

However, all critical infrastructure was protected, including the hospital, library and firehall.

 

A list of addresses where buildings were damaged is being finalised and will be released “shortly”, authorities said.

Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland looks at what is left of his home of 67 years

One local who does know he has lost his home is Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland, who came back to the town with other officials on Friday.

 

He stood in front of what remained of his home, reduced to a few charred cement blocks, and said: “Now, it’s well, it’s just memories of family and fire.”

 

Mr Ireland spoke of a photograph lost to the flames, where he was just a two-year-old sitting on some moving boxes next to a birthday cake at that very house. He had lived at the same address for 67 years.

New images show extraordinary damage at the tourist town, nestled in the Canadian Rockies.

 

The heat was so intense it turned parts of a car into a pool of metal, dripping across the road like a silver ice cream on a hot day.

 

Other photographs show the twisted remains of cars piled on top of each other, and a school bus now black with only a tinge of that iconic yellow remaining.

 

Hotels and a church were destroyed, and many homes.

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