We, and the rest of the residents of the Robson Valley are shocked and reeling upon hearing the news that the townsite of Jasper, Alberta is burning. Although Jasper is a two hour drive away, it is often viewed as a neighboring town, in our sparsely settled area of the world. Jasper is the only town in the the internationally-known Jasper National Park. Surrounded by mountains, it attracts visitors with its scenery, hiking, rafting, and in the winter, skiing.
Residents, including several of our friends who live in Jasper, were told to immediately evacuate at 10:00 Sunday night and given 5 hours to get out of town because of two encroaching forest fires. This resulted in a quick scramble, forcing people having to leave everything behind. Although Jasper has three highways going into it, because of the location of the fires, only the west exit which went to BC could be travelled.
Our friends John, Di, and their dog ended up having to sleep in their car in Valemount, BC, whose population had more than doubled with all of the Jasper evacuees. The next day they drove to McBride to stay with friends. I don’t know what happened to our other Jasper friends; Janet our Vet, and Matt, whose photography store printed my art cards and prints.
At this point, the news out of Jasper is very grim. We have only seen one photo; a motel engulfed in flames, but reports of the historical Jasper Park Lodge, indicate that fire has reached its grounds. News reports make it sound as though the whole town is in flames. What an incredible loss that would be for for those residents, those businesses, and our part of the world.
The extreme record breaking heat that resulted in the fires has now change to cool and wet weather. It is now raining in Jasper, however, sadly, it has arrived to late for Jasper and our friends.
You can see my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
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