Anniversary of Jasper wildfire dredges up strong emotions as residents reflect on its impact

CBC

2 days ago

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Kimberley Stark has a scavenger hunt planned for her three kids on the plot of land in Jasper, Alta., where they used to crawl, play and sleep.
They'll be searching for pieces of Jasper's nature, like mushrooms, purple asters, daisies and pine trees. Stark says she wants to bring a light touch to what's likely to be heavy day in the mountain town, still bearing wounds of last summer's destructive wildfire.
"We live at our house — it's just that the house is missing," said Stark, a volunteer firefighter who watched her family's home burn the night of the fire.
"We'll spend part of the day there, and not in a negative way. In a fun way."
Thursday marked one year since their home and 357 other structures in Jasper were turned to ash by a runaway fire that travelled about 30 kilometres over two days.
The town commemorated the anniversary Tuesday, a year to the day that 25,000 residents and tourists were forced out of the community.
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Jasperites gathered to remember and exchange stories, one year after they were forced to flee their homes as a wildfire encroached on the community. Businesses are rebounding and tourists are back but residents are still waiting to rebuild.
Locals say the anniversary has dredged up strong emotions.
Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said this week that many are approaching the milestone with trepidation and, for some, the hardest part is just beginning.
Stark said it's still a challenging topic.
"Emotionally, I'm fragile. I have mostly good days now, which is way better than the winter and the fall," she said.
"They were horrific."
Winds reported to be more than 100 kilometres per hour pushed a 30-storey wildfire toward the town, a summer tourism hotbed in the expansive Jasper National Park.
A tower of smoke eventually rained piping-hot embers into the townsite, incinerating homes at a rapid pace.
About a third of the town's structures were burned to the ground, though firefighters were able to protect critical infrastructure, including its water treatment plant, which if destroyed would have likely made Jasper unlivable for years.
Rico Damota, a town councillor, remembers a story told to him last fall by Parks Canada vegetation specialist Landon Shepherd during a helicopter tour of the damage.
Damota said Shepherd was on the radio with Jasper fire Chief Mathew Conte during the fire and asked how the fight was going on the ground.
"And Mat's response back was, 'We're losing,"' Damota said, fighting back tears. The councillor of nearly two decades said it wasn't until he relayed that story to friends that the fire made him visibly emotional.
"It didn't connect with me when I was up in the chopper, until I was telling my friends at home ... I had to leave the room for a moment.
"I didn't realize how much that would impact you. Everybody gets triggered in different ways. I was OK up until that point."
Christine Nadon, the incident commander for the municipality during the fire, said the local fire department has been laser focused on providing mental-health supports to the volunteer firefighters who tried to save the town that night.
The department now has its own in-house psychologist.
"I think that is still broadly misunderstood, the sacrifice and the service that every man and woman who is in the fire department [and] who was here the night of July 24 last year," Nadon said.
"They are heroes and should be treated as such."
With tourism season in full swing, many visitors are arriving in Jasper oblivious to what had occurred, said Tyler Riopel, CEO of Tourism Jasper. The front desk at the Jasper Inn asks guests to refrain from asking employees about the fire out of respect for their well-being.
"We have a lot of people right now in Jasper that are coming in and genuinely are unaware of last summer," Riopel said.
Jasper's rebuild is expected to take up to a decade.