As local officials anticipate the lifting of the Local State of Emergency in Jasper on Sunday, September 15, critical housing needs are being addressed by a cluster of planners and administrators. Lifting the LSOE signals Jasper’s transition from acute emergency response to the community’s longer-te...

Nearly seven weeks after a series of lightning strikes ignited a tinder-dry forest on a hot, gusty evening, officials have the Jasper Wildfire Complex under control. “The fire perimeter today is 100 percent controlled,” Jasper National Park officials told media members Saturday, September 7. “The wi...

My husband and I had just returned to Jasper, one week after the official date of return. At our end of town, there is no avoiding the damage caused by the inferno. We had seen the images, of course, but viewing the damage in person was overwhelming. It was sensory overload, and we knew it would tak...

In the wake of a wildfire and the destruction of many of the community’s homes and businesses, Jasper is working to significantly boost its recovery capacity. Yesterday (Tuesday, September 3), Jasper Municipal Council approved a request from the town’s new Director of Recovery, Michael Fark, to add ...

DISCLAIMER: Views, opinions and actions of Jasper Local contributors do not represent those of Jasper Local staff and/or publishers. Monday July 22 was another hot day. The day before was even hotter: at 38 degrees Celsius (100 F) Jasper was the hottest place in Alberta—excluding my apartment! (The ...

Plus: Council endorses recommendation to hire 10 new firefighters to supplement exhausted brigade Freson Bros. have cooked up a mountain of support for the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade. Back in late July, just one day after JVFB members, together with other structural firefighters from neighbouring...

"Blanket" permits will expedite process of applying for individual permit s for residential lease remediation, demolition and waste removal As the urgency on the Jasper Wildfire Complex ramps down, focus on Jasper’s recovery and rebuilding is ramping up. “We’ve made significant progress, but many ch...

A former Jasperite has a juicy idea for a fundraiser in the wake of the Jasper wildfire. Roger Bailey—known to his friends and family as Woody—is right now (Tuesday, August 27) driving a truck full of B.C. cherries from his farm in the Okanagan to the Jasper Legion, where staff and volunteers have b...

More than 40 millimetres of rain over the weekend has helped wildland firefighters get a handle on the Jasper Wildfire Complex. The wet weather, which started on August 23 and continued throughout the next day, will speed up crews’ ability to extinguish deep, dangerous hot spots throughout key, acti...

Temporary housing applications are open as services slowly come back online A month after a wildfire ravaged the townsite of Jasper, the community and the arteries that help sustain it are being brought back to life. As of yesterday (Friday, August 23), Highway 93N from the Columbia Icefields Area h...

“Worker Bee” Jordan raised the question during the Town Hall sessions: “Is there a local job board?” Yes, there is! The Jasper Local is pleased to introduce Local Jobs to support both volunteer and paid positions. Posting a job or volunteer position is fast, free and easy. Here is a quick guide to u...

A short section of the Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93N) is all clear after a mudslide came down from Mount Murchison near Mistaya Canyon, in Banff National Park. The mudslide was reported late Friday night (August 16), according to Parks Canada. It was cleared by Saturday evening. The Icefield Centre, Mi...

On the day of a fallen firefighter’s memorial, the Jasper Wildfire Complex has been downgraded from “out of control” to “being held.” On August 17, as the family and friends of Morgan Kitchen gathered to celebrate the life of the 24-year-old firefighter who died in the line of duty, a significant mi...

As questions arise about the townsite re-entry process, community leaders are assuring Jasperites that their concerns about privacy and security are not falling on deaf ears. On Monday morning, messaging from the Incident Management Team indicated that the scheduled re-entry date of Friday, August 1...

For the most up-to-date information on the wildfire and for information and resources for evacuees, visit the Municipality of Jasper’s  website  and the social media channels of the  MOJ  and  Jasper National Park . Friday, August 16 will mark the start of Jasper’s re-entry phase. On that day, Incid...

Critical details of the staged re-entry into the Jasper townsite for residents will be available on Monday, August 12. Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland made the announcement on Saturday at an 11 a.m. (MST) media briefing. “My hope is that the knowledge of the pending announcement will provide a bridge a...

It took me some time to wake up out of the shock of the fire, to come out of a numbness. Slowly, I began to connect to survivor’s guilt: the guilt one feels for surviving an event that others did not. Survivor’s guilt can present very much like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) , with similar sy...

While some animals will die in a fire, most do not. To varying degrees, species have adapted to fires. Biologist and Jasper Local contributor Mark Bradley explains. The Power of the Burn I can’t help but get emotional when I see social media posts about Jasperites who have lost their homes, the hero...

Fire “close to being held” around townsite; emergency services beginning to come on-line As critical retail and emergency services in the fire-ravaged community of Jasper take initial steps to restart, fire fighters working the Jasper Wildfire Complex are feeling increasingly confident that the wild...

Re: Save the hot air: Decades of wildfire preparation was a success, not a failure (Editorial, July 29, 2024) Dear Bob, Hang in there and don’t let the gasbags get you down. The same thing happens in the American West after a major wildfire. The Monday morning quarterbacks distort and over-simplify....