So heartbreaking… for the human residents of Jasper, for the wildlife, for all of Canada. That part of your country has always been so beautiful.
When I used to lead tours through the Canadian Rockies we would always stay at the Athabasca Hotel in Jasper. Last I heard they survived the fire, but I wonder how many years it will take to rebuild the rest of the town.
Do you know if the fire got up to Maligne Lake?
There was an independent 0.2 hectare fire at Maligne lake directly but it was in the Moose Loop area (trail network) and stayed off the developed properties and buildings. Luckily, they were able to put that one out within a day or 2.
The 2 other fires, that's what got in town. Yes it's very heartbreaking for the residents that lost everything and had to evacuate so quick. They are resilient and a tight knit community will re-build once the dust settles. There are still some homes, hotels and businesses to help when citizens are able to safely return to help get things started. Looking at slave Lake and Fort Mac fire, it might take 2 to 3 years at least to rebuild the buildings lost by the time they process the insurance claims and deal with all that fluff.
Yes, the Athabasca, I think that one survived. The part where the train and station and the main strip with most of the businesses survived too, the most affected seems to be residential areas at the other end. I only heard of the two hotels mentioned having burned completely or sustained damages. Hard to say for now tho only emergency personnel in the city and they are starting their assessment of how much and where burned. I'm not even sure if the Mayor is allowed back yet, last I checked, he was in the near-by Hinton until he gets permission to re-enter himself.