FRESS Firefighters responded to a call for assistance at the end of July, when fire threatened homes and businesses in Jasper, and the town was evacuated.
Six Flagstaff region firefighters answered the call, and returned to the region around the first part of August.
Then a week ago last Saturday, FRESS got another request for assistance in the Jasper region, this time asking for a crew to help prepare the town for reopening.
Answering this call were Killam Station Chief Joe Knievel, for his second tour, along with Alliance Station member Natacha St-louis, and Forestburg Station members Lieutenant Nathan Lunty and Firefighter Jordan Ward, who left for Jasper a week ago Saturday, with the Daysland Engine and a pickup.
Knievel says, “We arrived late Saturday and were put to work on Sunday, working right through until this past Friday, Aug. 16, coming home Saturday.”
He says the crew cycled through a lot of tasks this time around, looking for hot spots near the tram and Jasper Park Lodge, as well as through the golf course, and dismantling sprinkler systems on other days. “We put in 12-hour days, even some 14-hour days.”
Knievel says there were four task forces working, each with four trucks. He says the Jasper Fire Department is staying on call to respond to other emergencies such as vehicle accidents at this time, and answering 911 calls.
The FRESS crew were housed and fed in Hinton this time, first at a hotel, then at camp. Knievel says the first time up to Jasper, there was no power nor hot water, so this time was a little easier.
On Friday, the FRESS firefighters were part of the task forces welcoming residents back to Jasper.
“We welcomed people home, some back to their houses, some who had lost theirs.”
Knievel says it was an emotional day for many residents, “Either they were coming back to a loss,” like one young man who was returning to the family home for the first time to find it burned out, along with his first vehicle.
“Or their house was intact, but the neighbour’s or a friend’s was gone, so they were feeling some survivor’s guilt.
“Some were happy, some were sad; there were some tears shed. It wasn’t as bad as I feared it might be.”
Knievel says that firefighters offered to help those who’d had crews come in and ‘fire smart’ their properties, moving all combustibles a safe distance from their homes. He says not everyone who returned planned on staying, at least not that night.
“One in three people in Jasper lost their homes.” He says he heard that temporary housing might be arranged for those who had nothing to return to.
Knievel says that contractors had been going through the burnt areas, knocking down hanging structures like chimneys so that residents could safely approach what was left of their homes. “The next step would be with different contractors, who, along with the homeowners, would sift through the ashes looking for valuables.” He says his crew found an urn, which ended up being the remains of a pet, so they turned it in to the local police.
Knievel says the big fire is now miles away from the townsite, although those who returned Friday were under an hour’s-notice evacuation, that’s now been lifted. One of the sites his team monitored, near the Tram, was still burning, but it was up far too steep of a hill for his team. “They later sent wildland firefighters in to try and extinguish that.”
He says that the smoke wasn’t too terrible there, no worse than some of the smoky days that the Flagstaff region has experienced.
Knievel says the town was busy leading up to Friday and on that day as utility trucks rushed to provide power, water, and gas to the remaining structures.
He works in construction, and feels like that really helped during his time in Jasper.
Knievel says he’s glad to have had the opportunity to help in Jasper and he thinks the rest of the FRESS team feels the same way.
Leslie Cholowsky
Editor