Alberta’s construction community was involved in helping to fight a wildfire that swept through Jasper, Alta. last week, destroying homes and businesses and damaging infrastructure.
As the fire crept towards the community, some operators on heavy construction equipment – mostly dozers and excavators – joined a contingent of helicopters, water bombers and fire trucks that were deployed to construct a fire line in hopes of stopping the blaze.
One company, West Ridge Sand and Gravel Ltd. of Hinton, hauled gravel to the area so that ramp structures could be built on local roads to protect high-volume water lines across the pavement.
“The wildfire had been burning for several days and it was moving towards the community, so we were called by the municipality of Jasper and asked to haul some gravel to the site,” notes West Ridge owner Albert Ostashek, a councillor in nearby Hinton. “They were laying high-volume water lines and every place that line crossed the road they needed protection for it.”
The lines were being used to transfer water to high-volume sprinklers and fire hose manifolds.
Crews from West Ridge laid gravel on either side of the hose and over top of a protector that was installed to create a ramp and enable vehicles to pass over the line without causing damage.
West Ridge got the call from the municipality on the evening of July 23. Early the next morning, crews began hauling gravel to various locations. Work continued throughout the day.
Approximately 20 truckloads of gravel were brought to the sites. A skid steer was used to spread the gravel and build up the ramps.
Meantime, operators on heavy construction equipment of other contractors were building a fire line to contain the blaze.
The West Ridge crews were about eight kilometres from the fire. As the day wore on, though, the wind pushed the blaze closer to town.
“Wednesday evening is when it actually hit the outskirts of town,” says Ostashek. “It was about 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday that the fire actually got to town. The smoke plume from the fire that our guys could see was basically the full width of the valley and hundreds of feet high.”
Photos taken by the West Ridge workers show a vast plume of grey-white smoke rising into the sky.
The Alberta Construction Association (ACA), along with its eight local partner construction associations, and the Building Trades of Alberta released separate statements on the fire.
ACA executive director Warren Singh said in an interview the wildfire was “pretty devastating,” and it will likely take months to fully assess the damage and figure out what needs to be done.
“It’s still way too soon to talk about next steps and rebuilding,” he says. “But we know that that will happen.”
Singh spoke with residents who went through the ferocious Fort McMurray wildfire in 2016 that destroyed 1,600 structures in the town and learned it took several months just to do an assessment.
“When you look at Jasper, it’s going to take a number of months. Hopefully, not all the homes have been damaged.”
Judging by the updates via social media and from government, Singh said the province and feds worked well together to provide information to the public and co-ordinate the town’s evacuation.
“The residents of Jasper really stepped up and you see this mobilizing and moving, which has helped. If you could look at any positives with anything like this, it has been moving quite well.”
While the priority is to take care of the needs of Jasper’s displaced residents, the construction community in Alberta is eager to help the town rebuild when the time is right, Singh noted.
“On the rebuild and project management side is where we can provide a lot of the support because we’ve got the expertise. It’s a little too early to talk about that, but when they’re ready and when the government is ready, we would like to sit down, maybe it’s something that we could work with them on a joint collaborative effort with the three levels of government.”
Building Trades of Alberta executive director Terry Parker released a statement, indicating the situation is tragic beyond words and the workers stand with all those who are affected.
“Our thoughts are with the people of Jasper and with all those affected by this devastating news,” he wrote. “Its local residents have always been welcoming to travellers from across our province, our country and the world. Now we must stand with the people of Jasper in the face of this horrific tragedy.”
Parker noted that, as in previous years, the annual conference of the building trades was to be held at the Fairmount Jasper Park Lodge, but reports indicate the wildfire reached the grounds of the building.
“While we do not know the extent of the damage, this is very troubling news,” he wrote. “We are grateful for the evacuation orders which ensure the safety of the staff and of all people who were residing in the area.”
Communications about the event will be released as more updates arrive, he stated.
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