Anxiety, relief as Jasper residents prepare for return to wildfire-ravaged mountain town
CBC
Thousands of people forced from their homes in the heart of Jasper National Park are preparing for a homecoming that will signal the beginning of a daunting effort to rebuild what was lost to the flames.
More than 5,000 residents forced to evacuate the community of Jasper last month have been invited to return for the first time on Friday. It's unclear how many will be coming back to stay.
Monday's announcement of a re-entry plan came with a warning that a return to Jasper may not be possible or prudent for everyone.
Officials have cautioned that while the community is considered safe, many Jasperites will be coming home to inhospitable conditions due to the extent of the damage.
One-third of all the buildings in the townsite were destroyed and early estimates by the municipality suggest homes and businesses valued at a total of $283 million were destroyed.
Clara Adriano, who has operated a commercial laundry in the community since 2017, is apprehensive about leaving her Calgary hotel room and returning to Jasper.
Her business, Adriano Laundry Service, which she managed with her husband Tony, is among 358 buildings lost to the flames.
"I'm going to see our business gone. But I'm grateful our house is still intact," Adriano said in an interview Monday from her hotel room.
Adriano said it's going to be difficult to see her neighbours' homes and businesses reduced to rubble.
She isn't sure when she will return home. She's not sure she's ready to see the damage done and said the timeline for recovery feels daunting.
"I don't know what to expect," she said. "I have some mixed emotions.
"There's so many uncertainties right now, for all of us."
A state of emergency remains in place within the municipality and residents must be prepared to leave again at a moment's notice as a wildfire evacuation alert remains in effect.
Some residents will be travelling to Jasper simply to survey the wreckage of their gutted homes or businesses.
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