Jasper fire: Canadians mourn as jewel of the Rockies burns

Tears welled in Tasha Porttin’s eyes as she reminisced on the sheer beauty of the place she’s called home for 10 years.

Jasper’s mountain peaks and the picture-perfect pine trees that frame its vivid baby-blue lakes make it a popular tourist destination attracting millions each year. The natural beauty and small businesses, like the pharmacy she started, make the quaint alpine town in Canada’s Alberta province a jewel of the nation.

It’s a “place that has the biggest heart of any community I’ve met”, she said through tears. “It grabs people and never lets go.”

Those memories have now been replaced by an evolving nightmare. An out-of-control blaze has levelled about 33% of the buildings in the Canadian Rockies resort town, and fire crews are still working to douse the flames that have already burned 89,000 acres (36,000 hectares).

Rain tamped down the fire on Thursday night, and no new blazes have started in the last day, officials said in an update on Friday. But winds were expected to pick up and hot, dry weather is forecast to return by Monday.

Out of a total of 1,113 structures in the town of Jasper, 358 have been destroyed, according to town officials, who added that it may be weeks before residents can return home.

But “all critical infrastructure in Jasper was successfully protected” – including schools, a hospital, and a water treatment plant.

Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said his own home may have been destroyed by the fire. “Where the fire did the most damage, that’s where my home is”.

“How I will react remains to be seen.”

The mayor said despite preparation and years of training, the nature of the fire “humbled the humans on the ground”.

He added that “nature prevailed” with 100m (328 ft) high walls of flames that were metres wide.

Ms Porttin rushed to flee the area in a camping trailer that her husband bought less than a month ago. She has been monitoring the fire, waiting with concern as buildings nearby crumble.

“I have seen images of it standing,” she said of her business. “Unfortunately, the buildings next to it are not. That’s pretty much all I know.”

“It’s just surreal to think our downtown is not the way we left it.”

Canadians and elected officials have described a deep sense of grief and a devastating cultural loss as the area continues burning.

Sitting just north of the more popular Banff National Park, Jasper National Park is the largest in Canada’s Rocky Mountains.

The Unesco World Heritage Site is home to elk, grizzly bear, moose and bison.

The adjacent town of Jasper has a population of around 5,000, but has around a dozen hotels to accommodate the roughly 2.5 million people who pass through to visit the park.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the area a “special and cherished place” for many Canadians.

Karyn Decore, whose family has owned the historic Maligne Lodge over 60 years, has been receiving condolences from around the country since learning it was destroyed as the fire swept through town.

In an interview on Friday, she said she has always loved sharing the Canadian “icon” with international visitors, calling it “one of the most famous national parks in the world”.

“People understand the beauty, and the power, and the magic of Jasper National Park,” she says, recalling her lifetime of wildlife viewing, mountain biking, fishing and skiing in Jasper.

Ms Porttin said she loves watching visitors fall in love with Jasper. Most who end up moving to the town have a similar-sounding origin story.

“Most people say I came for a summer, and I stayed the rest of my life,” she says. “It grabs people and never lets go.”

Town residents, she says, enjoy meeting people from around the world as they come and “fall in love with the place that we love”.

Ms Porttin said she rushed to leave as the blaze closed in. She said the recently bought camping trailer was already stocked with some necessary supplies.

“Without that,” she said, “I don’t know what we would have done.”

Along with her four-year-old, she had only 30 minutes to pack on Monday.

Her husband was away, so a friend who owned a truck came over, and hooked up the trailer so they could all flee.

The two families spent two nights camped out together before her husband was able to join them.

“As much as you think you’re prepared, you’re never prepared to leave,” she said.

The destruction is expected to have a steep economic cost, as tourists stay away during the height of travel season.

Ms Decore says her now-destroyed hotel is normally 100% occupied from May to October every year. Now, all of the tourists and staff have evacuated the area, and they don’t know when they may return.

Park officials estimated that a power outage in the town last year, which lasted two weeks, deprived local businesses of some $10m in revenue.

It remains to be seen how long it will take to restore the resort, as well as the pristine ecology that helps make the majestic park a pride of Canada.

Meanwhile, there are currently 51 wildfires burning “out of control” around the Alberta province, forcing some 17,000 Albertans to flee.