As Jasper, Alta., tries to rebuild from wildfire, residents scramble to find winter housing
'Non-essential' residents living in trailers, others house-sitting for snowbirds
A glittering orange cat, a glaring pumpkin and bright yellow flowers sit on the pavement next to Sviatoslav Rud's camper.
The Ukrainian says his wife is trying to make their temporary home cheery and seasonal. The trailer sits on the street in front of their rental property, mere meters from the devastation of this summer's wildfire in Jasper, Alta.
"As you can see, it was pretty close," said Rud, pointing to his neighbours' property. Crumbling foundation sits behind blue construction fences, complete with signs warning of asbestos dangers.
After a wildfire destroyed a third of Jasper, different levels of government have stepped in to house some residents who can get the town up and running. But that means other residents who want to be in town for work, for the rebuild and for their community have to find their own place to stay.
Ticking clock on trailer option
For some, mobile homes have been the solution. Campers and trailers are scattered on Jasper's streets – some by standing structures, others in front of incinerated homes. Normally, a bylaw prohibits parking trailers on the street, but the town waived it following the fire. That exemption runs out Oct. 15.
Rud, who works at CN Rail, doesn't know if they'll be back in the house by then. He's still waiting on repairs before it's safe to move in.
"We're going to write [to the town] that we're still here," he said.
"I hope we're going to come back to our house at the end of October because they're already broadcasting that there should be snow with rain next week."
The 'non-essentials'
The municipality and the province are housing 60 essential workers in hotels. An additional 42 essential workers found their own housing.
In this case "essential" includes those who provide "critical services that keep the community running, such as public safety, healthcare, education, government services and utilities," according to the town's website.
"I feel like what I do in town isn't important," said Denise Mellett, who's lived in Jasper for 14 years. Her partner, Chuck Cantlie, has lived here for 40 years.
Mellett and Cantlie lost their home in the fire. Cantlie works in the tourism industry and Mellett works for a real estate company.
"I can understand the thought process of why they need certain people in town right now, but I also feel that I'm an integral part of this community."
The couple says they want to stay in Jasper to help with the rebuild and to keep a sense of community going. As volunteers, for example, they hope to put on this year's annual Jasper Christmas Day dinner.
"It was kind of being put out there by all levels of government…that there would be some kind of interim housing for everybody. And now because we're deemed not-essential, we are fending for ourselves," said Cantlie.
"Ultimately, there's very little option for us here."
Interim housing on the way
The municipality believes Jasper was already short 600 housing units before the fire that destroyed 820 units.
"There's a really critical shortage," said Jasper CAO Bill Given.
The first step in housing recovery, he said, is to relocate those 60 essential workers from hotels to interim housing by Nov. 30. Then, the town is looking at other options that can withstand the years of rebuilding ahead.
"The most expedient solution would obviously be camp trailers, which in Alberta we have lots of experience with. But we have to remember that we're actually housing families," said Given.
"They need to have independent cooking facilities and living spaces. So it's likely that we'll look at modulars that would be single-storey to start with. Then later in the spring is where we would start to look at opportunities for multi-storey development."
That housing will go on three pockets of land in Jasper that were already marked for development. In a way, the fire expedited those plans, but the land still needs to be prepped for utilities and other services.
"Unfortunately, we're going to have to rely on residents to continue to be innovative, to continue to find solutions that work for them, while having that understanding and confidence that everyone is working as quickly as possible," said Given.
"Everyone is putting their full effort toward identifying appropriate housing solutions, and I think we can all appreciate that they're not going to materialize as quickly as anyone would like. That doesn't mean that the effort isn't being put in."
Funding for the new housing isn't nailed down yet. Given said the town is still discussing what provincial funding will look like.
In a news release Thursday, Smith said the federal Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program – which helps provinces pay for disaster recovery – only reimburses a portion of Alberta's costs. Alberta wants the federal government to waive the existing cost-share formula since the fire started in Jasper National Park, which is under federal regulation.
Concerns over Jasper becoming a 'political football'
To Jasper residents, jurisdictional battles are nothing new: the municipality is inside a national park, within the province of Alberta.
But they hope wildfire recovery can rise above those conversations.
"What I would like is for Jasper not to be a political football," said David Leoni, a dentist who lost his family's home in the fire.
"These are real lives being displaced," he said.
"More than anything, we need a unified level of support from all levels of government and no more political tag with it."
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