'Put it back better': Lessons learned from past wildfires could future-proof Jasper

CTV National News: Wildfire evacuees return home Jasper residents will finally be allowed to return home to begin rebuilding after a wildfire forced evacuations. Andrew Johnson reports.

As Jasper residents begin their return to the wildfire-ravaged town, many who’ve lived through similar experiences are reminded of the emotional turmoil they wrought.

“We know what they're going through and how they feel,” said Slave Lake councillor and life-long resident Kimberly Hughes. About one third of Slave Lake, Alta. was destroyed in a 2011 wildfire that caused upwards of $700 million worth of damage.

“There's honestly no words to describe how that feels when you go back to the community you've called home for so long. It’s really devastating.”

When she returned after the evacuation, Hughes remembers the strong smell of smoke. Refrigerators, which are particularly vulnerable to smoke damage, were placed outside every home.

But just like other communities destroyed by flames, the town rebuilt.

Besides some empty “recovery lots” -- spaces left empty where residents would not, or could not, rebuild -- Hughes said visitors would never notice signs of the fire more than a decade later.

Fort McMurray did the same after a 2016 wildfire left 2,400 homes in ruins and forced more than 90,000 to flee.

Teams from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) have studied these wildfires and others in West Kelowna and Lytton, B.C. to identify a cause and means of prevention.

“If we know how structures are ignited, we know how to prevent that from happening,” said ICLR managing director Glenn McGillivray.

“It's not luck. When we go through and do our forensic investigations, it's a feature or features of a home that helps it survive.”

Communities ignite in wildfires due to embers blowing far ahead from the fire front, McGillivray said. He compared it to “billions of lit cigarettes being thrown down on a community.”

Often, it is the building materials and the surrounding property that determine if it will ignite, he said, adding nearby wooden fences, mulch piles and propane tanks all make it easier for a house to catch fire.

“Roofing is really important and siding is very important,” McGillivray said.

In Jasper, he noted several untreated wood shake roofs that easily ignited. In Fort McMurray, many vinyl-sided homes went up in flames.

McGillivray recommends residents use less flammable materials in the rebuild, like metal roofs or asphalt shingles.

He said it was unfortunate to see that many houses rebuilt after the Fort McMurray fires were sided with vinyl.

“We miss these golden opportunities to make sure that these things don't happen again,” he said.

“We certainly hope that in Jasper we don't just put Jasper back the way it was. We hope that we put it back better so they don't have to go through this again.”

A full return to normal can take years, according to Dr. Karina Pillay, the former mayor of Slave Lake.

Jasper residents returning home for the first time will face a “rollercoaster of emotions,” she said, and it is important that they check in on their mental health.

“I encourage them to get that back-up support and ask for help,” she said.

“The mental and physical health of the residents is also important as they return home and go through the daunting task of rebuilding.”

Pillay said some residents may experience survivor’s guilt if they did not lose their home but their neighbours did. She encourages community members to lean on each other for support.