Love for Jasper: An outpouring of grief for a place that has touched many Albertans
CBC
The wildfire that ripped through Jasper National Park and the Town of Jasper this week has caused acute grief for those who've lost homes, businesses and livelihoods.
But there's a secondary loss for the many people in this province who love the place, and for whom Jasper holds a multitude of memories.
Kristin Heimbecker is one of those. She grew up in Fort McMurray; when she moved to Edmonton she discovered Jasper as a breath of fresh air and escape from the city.
"Jasper just feels like coming home ... To experience the peace and calm that it brings has just been just such a gift to us," said Heimbecker, who surprised herself at how emotional she felt hearing news of the fire this week. She posted photos with her favourite memories on social media and invited others to do so, too.
During COVID, her family would make the four-hour drive from Edmonton to Jasper for day-hikes. Their favourite is Valley of the Five Lakes, a route she hopes has remained untouched by the blaze.
Heimbecker is also worried for town residents. Having friends and family who lived through the 2016 Fort McMurray fire, she knows how long it can take for a community to rebuild, even for those whose homes are still standing.
"This is a long road ahead of them. I've seen it."
Latest figures from Jasper National Park officials on Friday show that 32 per cent of all structures in the townsite were destroyed. Of the 1,113 total structures within the town, 358 were destroyed.
Most of the destruction occurred on the west side of the municipality, and critical infrastructure — including the hospital, schools, activity centre and wastewater treatment plant — were saved, said Parks Canada officials.
Gardening expert Kath Smyth was scheduled to go on CBC's call-in show Alberta at Noon on Friday to take questions on plant health and pruning. When the show pivoted to focus on the Jasper wildfires, her memories of the place were top of mind.
"Jasper just entranced me," she said. Working in Jasper as a chambermaid to put herself through university, Smyth said she saw her first elk in the townsite and was surprised by a bear on her way home one night.
Smyth said she was relieved when she saw a post on social media asserting that the famous Jasper the Bear statue had made it through the fire unscathed, a claim CBC News has been unable to independently verify.
A now widely shared photo posted to Facebook by Edmonton resident Gord Stewart shows Jasper in the evening light, a snap Stewart captured on a previous trip to the town. He said he decided to share the photo when he saw what he thought was the statue in the background of a live newscast from Jasper after the wildfires this week.
More news on whether that landmark — an emotional touchstone for many — alongside others have survived, has Albertans waiting on the edge of their seats.
Premier Susan Holt says she doesn’t have an explanation for why regulators, policy experts and others responsible for gas price regulation didn’t clue in to a simple way to lower prices for consumers until the end of 2025.
The new year will be bringing with it Toronto’s first traffic czar.
For the first time in 111 years, items once belonging to the late Albert Mullins were back in the hands of his family members thanks to the detective work of one Montreal historian.
The year that saw the remains of two First Nations women brought home from a Manitoba landfill and a search get underway for the remains of a third showed how far reconciliation efforts have come — and how far they still need to go, the families say
The RCMP has just released a warning stating there are dangerous, armed individuals on Big Island Cree Nation, near Meadow Lake.
A new land-use plan that Alberta’s government has for the province’s Upper Smoky region is drawing criticism from environmentalists who say they believe it lacks sufficient environmental safeguards, which poses a significant threat to the endangered southern woodland caribou.
Canadian officials made pains to show they were cracking down on illicit drug production in the country in 2025.
A year after the City of Hamilton cancelled its overnight warming bus, it is funding a new all-night warming centre for men at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church on James Street S.
This year has, without a doubt, been a turbulent one for the Canadian auto industry. Uncertainty dominated the sector — both for auto workers hit with job changes and companies trying to manage a mix of tariffs and changing market conditions.
A woman died at a ski resort in the Canadian Rockies over the weekend, after falling into deep snow.
Two pregnant women who would otherwise be living in a cold tent. A man whose leg wound was so bad it required intravenous medication. Two young people who no longer need to couch surf to get by.
The province has added 12 kilometres of designated trails for all-terrain vehicles in western Prince Edward Island that will connect existing routes in O’Leary and Tignish.
Every year, CBC North publishes hundreds of stories online — breaking news, investigative reporting, political coverage, community features, longform storytelling, and much more.