Abigail Popple
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Rocky Mountain Goat
Hundreds of evacuees from the Town of Jasper and Jasper National Park wound up in Valemount late Monday night and early Tuesday morning after the area was ordered to evacuate at 10 p.m. MT (9 p.m. PDT), just 90 minutes after the Municipality of Jasper issued an evacuation alert.
Evacuees went west on Highway 16, and eventually crowded into Valemount’s Community Hall, where a welcome centre with water and public washrooms had been established.
Jasper residents Dorothy and David Marquis told The Goat it was the first time they’d been evacuated after living in the town for 40 years.
“This was just crazy. There was no notice,” Dorothy said. “There was a notice that there was a severe thunderstorm in Jasper, that’s all we heard. And then next thing we knew, we were under alert, and then we were out. If you weren’t ready to go, you just left.”
Dorothy said she was only prepared to evacuate because a neighbour who worked for the Municipality of Jasper advised her to pack her car before the evacuation alert was issued. She was particularly frustrated because her husband, David, has mobility issues and would have struggled to leave on shorter notice.
This was the second evacuation that Hunter Chateau, a summer student working at Jasper National Park, has been through. Last year, she had to evacuate her hometown of Grande Prairie, Alberta – this time around, she felt more prepared.
“This one was much more organized. There was actually time, and people actually put in the effort to notify residents,” Chateau said. “From experience with that last one, and having family and friends go through it, I was already packing two days before the evacuation.”
Not everyone was as prepared as Chateau. Teresa and Douglas Wright, who were visiting Jasper National Park from California, were unable to return to their trailer in time to collect their things.
The Wrights had just driven into the Town of Jasper after spending the afternoon driving through the park when they got the evacuation alert. It caught them off-guard, Teresa said.
“Earlier I had called the visitors centre, and I said, ‘How do we know if there’s a fire? It’s getting awfully smoky over here.’ She said it was smoke coming from Washington, there was one small little fire but they had it under control.”
Once they got notice of the evacuation order, the Wrights tried to return to their trailer in Wapiti Campground, but were told they couldn’t drive back into the park. Someone who was managing traffic control at the park advised them to head west.
Word about Valemount’s welcome centre spread through Facebook and the hospitality industry in a hectic game of telephone. Chateau had friends who sent her Facebook posts about the village’s community hall, while the Wrights were instructed to go to the community hall when they tried to book a hotel in town.
“I’m feeling much better now that I’m not in a car following the convoy. I understand that’s what everybody had to do, but it’s nice to be out,” Chateau said. “I’m just praying for everybody to make it out safe, and wishing the firefighters all the best.”
