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.

The press should definitely be allowed in. It's wild to me how little coverage of wildfires there's been in Canadian news this summer (by design). What climate change? /s

Why would anyone want to go right now?

That's like "let's visit New Orleans" a week after Katrina.

Obviously less sad/awful/catastrophic than Katrina, but it's a town of people grieving their loss of their homes, businesses, environment, while having to navigate a complicated web of insurance and government contracts with Parks Canada.

Hopefully the fact that this was a national park that was affected will make the federal government start considering a federal wildfire fighting program.