Jasper to commemorate 1 year since wildfire decimated townsite
CBC
Nancy Addison is still waiting for a house to come home to, one year after a wildfire raged through Jasper, Alta.
She moved to Jasper with her husband about 40 years ago. She spent most of that time as a school teacher, but also immersed herself volunteering in the community during her time as the people's warden for St. Mary and St. George Anglican Church.
But Addison has bounced around Canada for the past year. Her house was one of the 358 structures in the beloved tourist community that were lost to the flames.
About one-third of the buildings within the townsite, nestled in the heart of Jasper National Park, were incinerated last summer when a forest fire moved in.
"It makes you feel very far away, without support when you're … moving from place to place," Addison said.
"That stings the heart. My sense of community is strong, but there are lots of people who won't come back."
Last summer, several fires burning in the national park flared dangerously, forcing thousands of people, including 5,000 residents of Jasper, to evacuate the national park.
Within a day, a fire burning south of the Jasper townsite drew dangerously close, entering the community on the evening of July 24, and burning through neighbourhoods and streets lined with businesses.
Evacuees were displaced for weeks, at least. Those who lost homes had to stay away longer.
Firefighter Morgan Kitchen, a 24-year-old man from Calgary, died as crews continued to battle the fire for weeks after the damage was done.
A year after the fire moved in, the mountain community remains in recovery.
Efforts to rebuild have been steady, but slow.
The Municipality of Jasper is commemorating the one-year anniversary this week. Officials are scheduled to give media tours of the area Monday to show what's been done to recover from the fire, and Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland is to speak with reporters.
A week of activities are also planned to bring the community together, including painting workshops, an online talking circle for displaced residents and live music.
Montreal officials will hold a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre today.
The City of Regina's proposal to build a roadway through the McKell Wascana Conservation Park should be discarded, local conservationists say.
A holiday event that began in 2020 during the pandemic with three floats on pickup trucks has now become one of Kelowna’s big winter events, drawing thousands to the city’s downtown core.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.
It’s been hard to keep track of how many legal challenges and active court proceedings the United Conservative government has tried to quash or pre-emptively block in the last six weeks, but let’s try to tally:
Margaret Walker, the emcee of a Waterloo vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal massacre, doesn't feel enough is being done to reflect on the killings and address gender-based violence.
The P.E.I. Humane Society says it is doing far more fundraising than it used to, and rising expenses — including the cost of animal medications — are a big reason why.
Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.
An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents.
A young man has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a fire at a frat party near Western University that injured five sorority sisters, including two seriously, late Tuesday night.
The massive deal to combine one of Hollywood's oldest studios with a streaming giant hasn't even been approved yet, but it's already riling multiple related industries and politicians concerned about monopolies and media concentration.
Mi'kmaq chiefs and a former Nova Scotia justice minister are criticizing the provincial government for directing police to crack down on illegal cannabis, saying the order undermines relations with Indigenous Peoples.
For years, there has been “glaring inequity” in the way the province has allocated the millions of dollars in its county roads budget, according to Department of Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson.