On July 22, two wildfires exploded in the area around Jasper and fire officials and national park administrators evacuated the community in advance of the expanding inferno. The fire would tragically sweep away one-third of Jasper\u2019s structures and kill one firefighter, 24-year-old Morgan Kitchen of Calgary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A welcome centre was created in Valemount, the closest significant town to Jasper\u2019s west. With just 1,000 full-time residents, Valemount was overwhelmed by the thousands of Jasper evacuees, but Valemountians came together to do all they could for their next-province neighbours.<\/p>\n \u201cI was getting ready to get the paper out to press on a Monday night,\u201d Hall recalled. \u201cI just finished the layout for the evening and was about to go to bed, and then we hear that all the residents and the tourists that were in Jasper \u2013 and it was the summer, so there were many of them \u2013 were coming to Valemount. I threw on my clothes and went to the community centre. The mayor was standing in the rain directing traffic for hours in the parking lot of the community hall.\u201d<\/p>\n Townsfolk quickly responded to the newcomers, who were suffering physically and emotionally.<\/p>\n \u201cTo see all of us come together, that was nice, but obviously it was very devastating, as the fire raged on and decimated 30% of the town [of Jasper],\u201d said Hall. \u201cYou\u2019d have people crying on the side of the street, understandably, because they just lost their house or their pets. It was a very dramatic week.\u201d<\/p>\n The economy of Valemount and the surrounding areas \u2013 the tourist draw of Mount Robson is just up the road \u2013 depends greatly on tourism. Valemount attracts snowmobilers in winter and counts on drivers heading to and from Jasper for restaurant and hotel business year-round. The devastation in Jasper has had repercussions on both sides of the BC-Alberta boundary. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEven though this fire wasn\u2019t in our province, it did impact British Columbians, especially in Valemount,\u201d Hall said. \u201cWe are seeing a lot less tourism.\u2026 There are business owners that are really struggling. Our restaurants have been impacted. We have one grocery store and they are feeling the impact as well.\u201d<\/p>\n And the newspaper isn\u2019t immune.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Goat<\/i> has definitely been impacted because as revenues go down, the first thing people slash is their ad budget,\u201d said Hall. \u201cSo we\u2019ve been seeing less ads months later.\u201d<\/p>\n The tourism downturn came at a particularly bad moment, as last winter saw lower-than-average snowfall, reducing the winter vacation crowds. Local businesses had hoped for a good summer to make up for the shortfall, but the July fires gutted that hope.<\/p>\n It is early yet in the winter sports season, but snowfall so far is promising.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a few people come out for snowmobiling,\u201d Hall said. \u201cI know that we have more snow than we had last year, so that\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n Consultants are helping local businesses and the tourism authority is working to strengthen the sector. Hall said interprovincial jurisdictional issues, as well as a provincial election in British Columbia, may have slowed economic responses for the region, but the federal government seems to be particularly slow in responding.<\/p>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dec-20-BC.20.Valemount-spencer-cameo-at-sign-in-table.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"photo](\"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dec-20-BC.20.Valemount-Lianne-New-Life-Jasper-evacuees4.jpg\")
<\/a>