‘Surreal’: former N. Battleford resident evacuates Jasper

Originally from North Battleford, she has lived and worked in Jasper for four years – it’s the place she has called home since first moving from Saskatchewan in 2020.

“As of last night, we’re pretty certain the entirety of the town is pretty much gone.”

She and the tight-knit crew she works with knew when they received an evacuation order on Monday night it wasn’t a precaution, but they packed only essentials.

They all thought they’d be back.

“We knew it was serious, we knew it was big and that the south fire just kept getting bigger and hotter and yeah, they eventually amalgamated into one – the north fire and the south fire,” she said.

“We pretty much knew something was going down. I don’t think any of us really thought the town was going to burn down as of…Monday night.”

Members of a rafting crew camp out after evacuating Jasper earlier this week. (Video screenshot/Kate Abrahamson)

The rafting guide said leaving Jasper was difficult as the town was gridlocked.

“We got officially evacuated just after 10 (p.m.) and we weren’t out of Jasper until just after 12:30 (a.m.)”

The first place they stopped was Tete Jaune Cache, British Columbia, normally an hour away but on that night, it took over two hours to arrive. They received an offer from the owner of Stellar Decents Whitewater Rafting in nearby Valemount to let the 13-member group camp on his acreage.

“We all tented there for the night,” she said.

The following morning as the group was walking around the town, they noticed they weren’t the only ones displaced.

“The amount of people was crazy, like the grocery store was completely packed.”

They kept moving west.

“We moved on to Clearwater, we actually had another rafting company (Interior Whitewater Expeditions) reach out to us and let us know that we could stay on their property at their compound,” she said, noting they are once again on the road.

This fire was one Abrahamson said they knew would happen eventually. In fact, it was something the guides would tell their clients.

“We’re in a three-valley confluence so when we get a fire in one of the valleys it’s going to burn and it’s going to burn fast – that forest is 125 year overdue,” she said, referring to the conversations.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had this little of a plan in my life really of like nowhere to go right now.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Thursday early reports show a third or maybe half of all buildings in the historic Rocky Mountain resort town of Jasper have been destroyed by wildfire. And Smith got emotional today while giving an update on the situation, which she says is any community’s “worst nightmare.”

According to the Parks Canada website, roughly 25,000 people were evacuated from the town and national park after the Jasper Complex Wildfire, which began Monday night reached the community within 48 hours.

Last night Abrahamson said she and her friends were in spotty cellphone coverage. When they came back into service, that’s when they got confirmation their town was on fire. They also saw the photos that have since circled the globe – the Maligne Lodge and one of Abrahamson’s favourite cafes – which are now no more.

“That’s where I got my coffee at least once a week I’d say – that was pretty close to my house,” she said.

As for her home, while she isn’t sure of its fate, she said she suspects it too was lost.

“All assumptions but I don’t think it’s standing, that whole side of town is pretty much gone.”

Now, her friends are left grappling with what comes next though it’s too fresh. One thing she is clear about is the response.

“The Athabasca River is what we raft on,” she said of Alberta’s longest river.

“It runs right through town and still with all of that – like huge resource, like nothing – they literally did everything they could.”

Kate Abrahamson in happier times. (Submitted Photo//Kate Abrahamson)

Abrahamson explained there were over 200 firefighters battling the flames and although the forest firefighters were pulled out, there were structural personnel who had stayed in.

“They did pull some of the forest firefighters into Hinton last night and the night before they pulled all RCMP and non-essential personnel into Hinton for the night,” said the guide.

The fire has also turned into somewhat of a political hot potato as there have been statements made on social media that neither the federal government nor the United Conservative Party of Alberta did enough to stop it from happening in the first place through lack of funding or otherwise.

Abrahamson sees it differently.

“As soon as it was close to Jasper, every resource that was available was on that fire,” she said.

She said though she doesn’t know if the response would have been the same had it been another town and not a national park, Abrahamson does know they called upon everyone. RCMP, out of country and in country firefighters, helicopters were all working the fire.

“They had every resource they could possibly have on that as soon as they could,” she said.

“I think truly that everything was done that could’ve been done.”

The group is now making their way to the Sunshine Coast and are working through their loss together. As they process the early days, in each other’s down moments, others have been able to provide comfort.

“It’s really nice to have each other,” she said.

As the country and those who call it home mourn Jasper, Abrahamson and her friends too are trying to step into their new life. It was a town that, for everyone who moved there, found they belonged – regardless of how long they had lived in the community.

“I’ve got friends who were only there for six months and it’s still – they’ve lived so many other places – and Jasper was still the spot they would call home.”

“It’s definitely pretty much impossible to process right now.”

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

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by Julia Lovett-Squires

‘Surreal’: former N. Battleford resident evacuates Jasper

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