Jasper is one of the jewels of Canada, and pictures of a wildfire sweeping through the community were etched into the minds of Albertans in late July.
Social media photos showed Maligne Lodge engulfed in flames, while videos displayed the charred rubble of homes and commercial businesses.
The damage caused by the out-of-control fire was only part of the story, which has yet to be fully written as businesses and residents have returned to rebuild Jasper.
The destruction and restoration of the community is the top Alberta business story of 2024, sharing the No. 1 spot with a seismic economic moment: the startup of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline.
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Despite massive cost overruns, frustrating delays and political intrigue, the development began operating in May. It increased the capacity of oil producers to access new export markets and showed Canada can still get big projects built.
“That was just a monumental moment for Canada,” says Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta.
Other high-profile news and business developments also joined the list during a tumultuous 12 months. The confrontation between Ottawa and Alberta over the oilpatch emissions cap, a shakeup at the Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo), and labour unrest in several sectors also notched a spot on the Top 10 list.
Strong winds amid hot summer weather pushed three fires together south of Jasper’s townsite in the afternoon of July 22.
Within hours, it triggered an evacuation order that night, forcing more than 20,000 people to leave Jasper National Park at the height of the tourism season.
Two days later, fire breached the townsite.
“The embers rained down everywhere,” Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland told the Alberta First Responders’ Mental Health Conference in November, the Edmonton Journal reported.
“The air itself was thick with toxic smoke from, at that point, burning structures, burning gas stations, burning vehicles, and mixed, of course, with all the smoke from a now vanished forest.”
A photo began circulating on social media, showing Maligne Lodge covered in flames. Lodge co-owner Karyn Decore began getting texts from friends while she was out of the country.
“It was horrifying to see,” she said at the time.
The scale of the destruction was soon evident, with 358 of 1,113 structures destroyed, including homes and businesses. However, 755 buildings were saved, including key infrastructure.
Tragically, Calgarian Morgan Kitchen, a 24-year-old firefighter, died in August after a tree fell on him as he worked on the Jasper Wildfire Complex blaze.
Following the evacuation, more than 1,800 people registered in Calgary at a reception centre at Shouldice Arena, while about 2,700 evacuees from Jasper and Jasper National Park registered in........