Canadian Geographic: The Year of the Fire

A year after the devastating Jasper wildfires, a reflection on the recovery process — and how disaster frays the fabric of community.

At 3 a.m. on the morning of July 23, 2024, it was 27 C and too hot to close the car windows. Frail-bodied moths with white paper wings crawled in and made their frantic way across our gray-carpeted car ceiling. There were thousands of moths there under the bludgeoning bright lights of the highway rest stop. Next to me, my then 19-year-old son’s breathing finally fell into the rhythm of sleep, his forehead slicked with sweat. He was recovering from COVID, and a late-night evacuation from our home in Jasper, Alta., wouldn’t ease his lingering symptoms. His 6’2” frame was tangled in a sleeping bag to keep our winged friends at bay, and at those angles he didn’t sleep long. But some sleep was better than none. We’d already been driving for six hours through the crackling night as lightning spidered across the sky and appeared to strike tall trees. Ridgetops glowed orange as powder-dry forests fuelled growing flames. Read more.

Niki Wilson sits in the burn on a rock amidst wildflowers just off the Sky Tram road on Whistlers Mountain. Photo: Brian Van Tighem

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Canadian Wildlife Magazine: After Burn