More than 500 residents return to Jasper as officials examine housing options

Hundreds of residents return to Jasper More than 500 people returned to the Jasper townsite on Friday, 25 days after the town was evacuated. Kent Morrison reports.

Jasper residents began to return home Friday morning after a wildfire destroyed about a third of the townsite in late July.

Dozens of Jasper residents lined up outside the townsite before they were allowed to go in at 7 a.m., and hundreds returned home in the first half hour.

People who live in Jasper are being asked to show their Parks Canada-issued resident parking pass and will receive a re-entry guide.

Tourists are not allowed to visit the mountain town yet. Drivers who don't have a resident re-entry guide will be directed to drive through the park on Highway 16 but they can't stop.

'Mixed emotions'

A number of residents CTV News Edmonton spoke to outside the park gates said they were excited to return home but nervous to see the aftermath of the wildfire.

"I'm very curious to see how things look," Colin Borrow said Friday morning. "We're probably fine but you don't know until you get there."

"Glad to be heading home but worried about what we'll find," David Druyff said. "My house is supposed to be standing but unfortunately my sister's has been destroyed."

"We don't really know what to expect," Steven Harkema said. "It's nice to go back home but at the same time there's a lot of unknowns."

'Going tremendously well'

Jasper's Mayor Richard Ireland said on Friday afternoon the re-entry was going as planned.

"It's going tremendously well. Thank you. I am so relieved, grateful, proud," he told CTV News Channel.

"When returning residents entered our east entrance to town, they were greeted by our own local fire department, members of the RCMP Parks Canada and municipal people, and it was such a warm welcome that tears of appreciation were shed at that moment."

Ireland said hundreds of people returned to the town on Friday.

"There have been in excess of 500 people who have re-entered. Whether they will stay or not, remains to be seen," he said.

"There will be very many who have no capacity to stay. So I would expect that of those 500 that have entered so far, a large portion of them will be leaving the community again this evening."

Ireland said officials are looking at accommodations for people who lost their homes and want to camp in town with campers or other means.

"We will have to make some more adjustments to ensure that there are proper sanitation facilities and other items available for people who might want to camp on the streets," he said.

"We will certainly make that possible, but that won't be something that is undertaken this evening."

Housing and financial assistance

Jasper residents are now eligible for a second one-time payment from the Red Cross.

Households were previously able to apply for a one-time payment of $750 to help with evacuation needs.

Now that they are returning, they are able to apply for another payment of $500 to help restart their lives.

"This assistance is meant to help folks with ongoing needs such as food, transportation and cleanup supplies," Ric McIver, minister of municipal affairs told reporters on Friday.

"Those who have not been impacted by the Jasper wildfire might consider donating to the Red Cross. The government of Canada and the government of Alberta are matching every dollar donated by Canadians from July 25 to Aug. 24, which means every dollar that you donate becomes three to help people in Jasper."

Evacuees are also eligible for a one-time payment from the provincial government of $1,250 per adult and $500 per child.

Officials also continue to urge Jasper residents to fill out the online housing survey.

"Even if your house is in perfect condition and everything's working, we need to know if you have a room or part of your house that could be someone else's temporary residence, or if you don't have that, we need to know that, too, so we can make the best plans possible," McIver said, adding the information will be provided to a joint task force involving the municipal, provincial and federal governments.

"[The joint task force] is actually looking at three different forms of housing, immediate housing from zero to 90 days to get people situated, midterm for that 90 days to six months and beyond. And then beyond that," he said.

McIver said what that housing looks like will vary based on whether it's an individual or a family, and what kind of insurance coverage they have.

"If there's some temporary camp or some type of situation, for some single people in particular, they might find that quite acceptable. Families with several kids probably won't."

"The other things that will make a big difference is whether somebody owned or rented, and whether and how good their insurance coverage is.

"That'll help connect them to the benefits for the insurance policies that they have. Other people will perhaps have none of that, and we will look for ways to assist them, too, along with our friends at the Red Cross."

He says the government will do whatever it can to keep people in the townsite.

"We want to keep people closer to their life's connections, to their children's schools, to their job, because the recovery, the municipality, I don't think It's a straight line," he said.

"You've got to get people in there to have the economy recover. You can't have the economy recover until the people are there."

A telephone town hall will be held on Monday at 6 p.m. to provide residents with more information about the return.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Kent Morrison