Small town or big city, wildfire evacuation or not, a good goalie can always find work.
When Maligne Rafting Adventures driver and photographer Adam Hvisc was evacuating from Jasper to Edmonton, he had enough time to pack his hockey equipment.
He’s a member of a Facebook group for netminders for hire and was already putting out feelers to pick up a shift or two between the pipes while he was in the city on the drive from Jasper National Park.
Standing outside the Edmonton Wildfire Evacuation Centre in the east end of the city Thursday afternoon with plans to play in Sherwood Park and near the River Cree Resort and Casino, he told reporters he was trying to look on the bright side.
“It’s the first thing we did. We went for a skate at West Edmonton Mall,” he said, referring to his co-worker and fellow evacuee, paddler Austin Hucheson. “Trying to look on the bright side of life.”
The friends are two of the 439 people who have passed through the evacuation centre since they were forced from the Jasper townsite by a pair of wildfires still burning in Jasper National Park.
“Yesterday, we were staying at a former coworker's place in St. Albert and just seeing it on TV there is definitely that disbelief and shock,” Hvisc said. “I’m pretty sure my house, my little place is burned down. You’re kind of like ‘oh, I should have brought a couple more things,’ but then you’re also like, ‘it’s just stuff,’ right?”
Like many current and former Jasperites, Hvisc and Hutcheson are originally from Ontario, moved to or passed through Jasper some years ago, and fell in love.
“It’s just devastating,” Austin said, guessing they were able to get 70 per cent of their belongings out. “We’ve only been there a couple of seasons, but a lot of people lost their homes, lost everything.
“I’ve been all over Canada and it’s probably the most beautiful place. It’s a very special place and it’s tragic that it’s burning right now.”
Edmonton mayor tours evacuation centre
Also Thursday, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, Edmonton Fire Rescue Services acting fire chief David Lazenby and interim city manager Eddie Robar spoke to reporters inside the evacuation centre. Over the din of the hustle and bustle of what sounded like hundreds of people – media were separated from the reception centre proper by a barrier – Sohi said the images coming out of Jasper are “devastating,” and that he wanted evacuees to know that Edmonton is there for them.
Lazenby said Edmonton is rotating crews of firefighters in and out of Jasper, and sent equipment including aerial fire trucks (ladders), which the Jasper Fire Department doesn’t have. He added he was in Jasper just days ago, bringing his daughter along for her first view of the Rockies, giving this week’s response a personal tinge.
“We are in the midst of sending initial crews to relieve those crews [that arrived in the hours of Thursday morning],” he said.
Robar said the evacuation centre is meant to host a rapid response, with a number of services located on site to help people move through the process more quickly, including Red Cross, clothing, potable water, pet care and supplies, Alberta Health Services integrated health services, including mental health support, Service Canada and insurance providers.
“We expect more (people) to come as the situation develops today and tomorrow,” Robar said. “We are extremely devastated by what’s happened in Jasper. Our hearts go out to Jasper now.”
For his part, Hvisc plans to access some emergency funds, sort out Employment Insurance and lodging, all possible at the evacuation centre. He said he’s less worried about himself than others, like teens who are from there, the children of parents who had to leave their entire lives behind.
“A lot of the local kids in town, people have had enough of a hard time in the pandemic, right? And then this kind of thing.
“I thought I was going to be living there the rest of my life, I honestly did,” Hvisc said. “Now, I’ve got to think of something new, move on and stay positive.”
