The Current19:27Jasper residents can return home Friday. What will they find?
Jasper residents will be allowed to return home Friday after fleeing a devastating wildfire, but one man says the home he left behind is now just a “smouldering hole in the ground.”
“There’s good days and bad days … there’s the realizations of those little things that are the mementos that you can’t just go and buy at the store,” said Mike Day, who owns Evil Dave’s Grill in Jasper, Alta.
“Every few days, it feels like you just remember something new that you wish you’d packed in the car when we were evacuating.”
Thousands of people were forced from their homes when a wildfire raged through Jasper in late July. Officials said Monday that residents will be allowed to return from 7 a.m. Friday, but warned that water and power services in the area are still spotty, while gas, food and other supplies remain hard to access. A re-entry guide published by the municipality, details some of the challenges that residents returning to Jasper may face.
The National gets an up close look at the wildfire damage in Jasper, Alta., the firefighting efforts to save as much of the community as possible and why it’s expected to take so long for residents to return home.
Day spoke to The Current’s guest host Susan Bonner about how his home and business fared in the fire — and what comes next. Here is part of their conversation.
There is a kind of a striking before-and-after photo of your home online. In the before shot you see this lovely house with two comfy, red chairs out front. Can you paint me a picture of what your house looked like before and what’s there now?
Our house is relatively new. It was built seven years ago, and Cyndi and I had had it decorated the way we wanted to. It had a lovely rooftop patio and the landscaping was coming along. I think she said it was the best planting year she’d had.
And then we got the unfortunate video on Thursday morning of the smouldering hole in the ground.
So it’s gone?
It’s gone, yeah.
Over a week after a devastating wildfire, The National’s Ian Hanomansing asks Jasper, Alta., wildfire evacuees Mike Day and Julie Des Becquets to break down what’s next for their homes and their community as they look ahead to returning.
And one of your daughters lost her home too. How is she holding up?
It’s tough. There’s good days and bad days. And I think that there’s the realizations of those little things that are the mementos that you can’t just go and buy at the store. [And] every few days, it feels like you just remember something new that you wish you’d packed in the car when we were evacuating.
What about insurance? Are you covered?
Cyndi and I have insurance for our home. Unfortunately, [our daughter] Coral did not have content insurance for her home, so that’s presenting a bit of a challenge. But there’s a lot of support and funds being raised, so I’m hopeful that she’ll be OK.
You built [your home] to be fireproof as much as you could. Tell me about that.
The community itself has been working on a fire smart program for over 20 years, with a recognition that the potential of a fire coming through was very real. So, clearing areas around your house, decluttering the outside, it was a Hardie board [siding] construction. We actually had a sprinkler system installed on the roof a few years ago during another wildfire scenario. So, I’d say we were relatively confident we’d done all that we could do to preserve the structure. And apparently Mother Nature had a different idea.
You’re also connected to the tourism industry, as so many people are in Jasper. You own … Evil Dave’s Grill, a restaurant. How did it fare?
The restaurant is still standing. There’s a part of town that looks like nothing happened at all and there’s another part of the town that is just absolutely gutted.
We’ve seen some video, it looks fine on the inside. Our security cameras came back on. Other than some clean-up and smoke mitigation and removal of some food, it looks like we should be ready to go in a few weeks.
Three weeks after a wildfire forced a mass evacuation of Jasper National Park, thousands of people forced from their homes will be allowed to return to the town on Friday. Also, the co-author of a new study about the lingering effects of PTSD in wildfire evacuees gives some perspective on what Jasper residents might experience in weeks or months to come.
You’ve been away now for over three weeks, and you’re going back to no home and at least a mess in your business. How are you coping?
I think there’s good days and bad days. I think at this point it feels like it’s a positive move forward that we can go back and begin the process of rebuilding and reopening. So, I like the thought of being able to go back and do some work and try to, like I said, move forward as opposed to just dwelling on the past.
I think [it] will still take some time to go and see the house and maybe let it all sink in that it’s gone. But yeah, I think just going back and doing something positive to move forward is the motivator at this point.
What do you want people outside your community to know about what it’s like to live and work in Jasper?
It’s a wonderful community, Susan. I’ve been there for over 35 years and raised five children there. It’s a great community, the people are lovely. It’s nice to be able to walk downtown and have to stop multiple times to say hi to people.
And we really miss that sense of community where you feel like you know everyone … And so [we’re] looking forward to going back and seeing everybody. There’ll be lots of hugs and I’m sure lots of tears, but we’ll all work together to come out of this on the other side.