Travel Alberta: Can you walk us through the first 24hrs of the evacuation notice? What happened in the town and what was your personal experience?
I was sitting at home with my wife, kids and pets when the notice came through. I immediately headed to our office and put a call out to our drivers in town to see who was available to help evacuate residents and visitors.
We had a longstanding agreement with The Evergreens Foundation that in case of an emergency we would support their evacuation efforts, and I knew there would be additional support needed to help hotels and residents out of the Jasper townsite.
Within 10 minutes of me putting the call out we had 14 drivers on site ready to assist. We ended up moving 12 bus loads of people to evacuation centres in Valemount, British Columbia, Hinton, Edmonton and even some to Prince George. The Municipality, The Evergreens Foundation and other leaders really mobilized an organized evacuation that got over 20,000 residents and visitors alike out of Jasper safely, with no incidents.
Travel Alberta: What do you think made the evacuation go so smoothly?
Everyone recognized there was a job to do. People assumed their leadership roles and they worked well with each other and respected the job they needed to do. They understood how important it was to work together to get everyone out of the townsite safely. This was the theme throughout the entire crisis management period – working together.
In addition, the towns that took in evacuees were incredibly welcoming. The town of Valemount, British Columbia and Hinton, Alberta were unbelievably accommodating and made the entire ordeal so much more bearable for so many from our community. Their support is a testament to the power of community relationships.
Travel Alberta: How did you and your team respond in the immediate days following the evacuation, both operationally and in supporting displaced visitors?
The night of the evacuation my family and I were able to leave Jasper for Edmonton at 3:30 a.m. once we ensured our drivers had reached Valemount safely, and by 7:30 a.m. me and some of our incredible staff were on the phone reorganizing guest’s itineraries, getting the Edmonton shuttle bus back up and running to Hinton, and pivoting our tour offerings from Jasper to just outside of Jasper so visitors could still experience the incredible Rockies.
At the same time, we were working to coordinate continued evacuation efforts, which lasted for several days after the initial evacuation, with those who were stationed at evacuation centres.
I have to give a huge shoutout to my staff members for being so willing to help where needed. My managers Bianka Kelly and Helen Kelleher-Empey were instrumental in supporting displaced community members and guests throughout the evacuation locations, and my drivers continued to assist for multiple days to transport evacuees around their evacuation locations.
They all jumped in without batting an eye and went above and beyond to support in any way they could, all while dealing with the unknowns of their own personal circumstances.
Travel Alberta: Loss of accommodation seems to have been a constant concern in the early days of this crisis. How did that affect your operations, and does it continue to affect your business?
We immediately arranged rental housing in Calgary and Edmonton for our staff members who had not yet found accommodations following the evacuation, because they needed to know they had a place to go to. Once the Province of Alberta got temporary rooms set up at hotels, we were able to really get business back up and running.
Ensuring our staff’s needs were met and they had a stable foundation for the interim was extremely important in those early days. The province was great at reassuring us that as long as we were displaced, we would have a place to stay which allowed us to mobilize our logistics even further.
Unfortunately, we did lose staff accommodations to the fire and some of our full-time staff members lost their homes but with the support of Parks Canada, the Municipality of Jasper and community partners we have secured enough staff housing for this upcoming summer – enough to bring us back to pre-fire staff capacity!
Travel Alberta: Looking back, what did you learn about being prepared for an emergency situation like this?
You know, we did have an emergency preparedness plan, and I think it’s important that companies go through the exercise of building them. One of the most important things that come from these types of plans is understanding roles and responsibilities. Having clear leaders was one of the reasons the evacuation and crisis response of the Jasper wildfires was executed so smoothly.
Another key component of these plans is determining communication channels and structure. At SunDog we were able to mobilize our staff efficiently, and communication during the evacuation from those leading it was clear and concise.
With staff scattered across different locations, we set up regular virtual meetings to stay aligned on business needs and, just as importantly, to check in on one another. This experience reinforced how vital strong communication is, not only for keeping operations running, but also for fostering empathy and connection during a crisis.
Travel Alberta: What is something you took away from this experience that you hadn’t really thought about before?
The value of building community relationships, and I don’t just mean within your own community. Jasperites had to rely on many neighbours the night of the evacuation and weeks that followed. The relationships we built with those communities, like Valemount and Hinton, ensured evacuees were looked after and cared for.
We supported many of our local communities the night of the evacuation, The Evergreens Foundation and Jasper Park Lodge for instance, and we’ve since received support from other local companies to help with staff accommodation for this upcoming summer.
Travel Alberta: And finally, you started offering the Wildlife & the Ecology of Fire tour soon after visitors were allowed to return to Jasper. What is the importance of offering a tour package like that?
We were allowed to return to the townsite about a month after the initial evacuation and already we could see the regrowth and rebirth of the areas affected by the fire. We are not going to try and pretend that a fire didn’t happen. We decided that we could show people how spectacular the landscape is while telling them the story of what happened in a respectable way.
Fire is an important part of the forest life cycle and the ecosystems around Jasper. We wanted to show this and educate visitors, while respecting what so many lost. In ways it is part of the healing process. The landscape may have changed slightly but it is no less spectacular, and we’ve heard fantastic feedback about this tour already.
