'It was apocalyptic': Neighbouring Hinton learns many lessons from Jasper wildfire
Article content
But Nissen is a former Jasper resident and previously worked in search and rescue operations as a member of the Canadian military. He was part of 442 Squadron, which in 2012 won a global award at the Shephard's Search and Rescue Conference in Dublin, for its rescue of an injured hiker in Hat Mountain, B.C. Nissen vividly remembers rescue operations during the Calgary floods. When he became mayor, part of his orientation was disaster management, and a list of previous Canadian catastrophes was listed. To him, it was like a checklist of hockey cards, 'done that one, seen that one, worked that one.'
Article content
Article content
Article content
So, Nissen, as a disaster expert and the mayor of a community that's just outside the eastern boundary of Jasper National Park, is uniquely qualified to speak to the wildfire, and how his town of nearly 10,000 has been affected. Over the past couple of years, Hinton has become the home away from home for wildfire evacuees; people fled west from Edson in 2023, and east from Jasper in 2024.
Article content
Article content
'We have seen a number of people who are displaced out of Jasper who have settled into Hinton for maybe temporary terms, maybe the long haul,' said Nissen. 'It's tough to give statistics because, at the municipality, we don't really track numbers. But I can say anecdotally that there are a number of people from Jasper who have relocated into Hinton for one reason or another after the fires, and they're very active in our community. They're taking part in all of our community groups. They're volunteering. They're becoming embedded in our community.'
Article content
Article content
But, like Edson and Jasper, Hinton is surrounded by forest. It's a town that depends heavily on pulp and paper. Mondi's Hinton mill produces 250,000 tonnes of unbleached kraft pulp per year. And that means fire risk is something that is regularly on Nissen's mind. In fact, after he left the military, he and his wife settled in Jasper. But one of the reasons they chose to leave was because of what they saw as unreasonable fire risk. Nissen saw the large number of dead evergreen trees that surrounded the town, and he felt in his bones that Jasper was a disaster waiting to happen. Sadly, he was right.
Article content
Article content
'So, our own fire department has lessons learned directly from having the feet on the ground,' said Nissen. 'We had a very dramatic night, with smoke billowing out from behind the mountains, and large chunks of disgusting black soot falling all over the community.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Montreal Gazette
11 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Guy Vadeboncoeur, longtime Stewart Museum chief curator and director, has died
Guy Vadeboncoeur, the longtime chief curator and executive director of the Stewart Museum, has died. He was 76. The cause was cancer. The Stewart Museum was founded in 1955 by tobacco heir David M. Stewart and Liliane M. Stewart: It began as a private collection that David Stewart expanded into a collection of more than 30,000 artefacts, archival documents and rare books related to the European presence in New France and North America. It includes scientific instruments, one of Canada's best collections of firearms, European porcelain, Gobelin tapestry from France and objects used in everyday life in the 17 th and 18 th centuries. For years, the museum was on St-Helen's Island, in a former fortified arsenal built by the British in 1822 and used as a munitions depot. In 2013, it merged with the McCord Museum and, when the Stewart Museum closed permanently in 2021, its collection was absorbed by that of the McCord and the museum is now known as McCord Stewart Museum. For more than than half-century until his retirement in early 2014, Vadeboncoeur was closely associated with the many projects and endeavours of the Stewarts. He distinguished himself by integrating his knowledge of history with education and teaching, said Bruce Bolton, who served as longtime director of the museum before leaving to head the Macdonald-Stewart Foundation — an approach that earned him the recognition of peers in a the museum community. During his career, he twice served as president of the Société des Musées du Québec, from 1981 to 1982, and 2005 to 2007, and the Canadian Museums Association from 1983 to 1985, In 2004, he was elected Fellow of the association — a high honour in Canadian museum circles. He also participated in several juries for grants and scholarships in the museum field. 'We started working together in 1966 and stayed with the family. It was quite a collaboration. He was our human computer: He knew all the objects in the museum and when we acquired them,' Bolton said. 'His background in history and education — his PhD was in education for museums — enabled him to inspire so many people in how to bring history alive. Our intent at the Stewart Museum was to hire young people who showed the potential to be great museologists and we succeeded. We have so many people in the museum world who credit their beginnings to the Stewart Museum.' Vadeboncoeur organized, directed and supervised about 90 temporary and travelling museum exhibitions in addition to three re-imaginings of the permanent exhibition. He contributed to all the museum's publications related to its collections and directed the reorganization of the museum, including the permanent and temporary exhibition spaces, the offices, the workshops the reserves and libraries following work to bring the building up to code carried out between 2009 and 2011. Because of relationships he developed with universities with programs in museum studies, he represented the museum in Canada and beyond. He taught in the masters program in museum studies at the Université du Québec à Montréal, from where he earned a doctorate in museology. He welcomed dozens of interns at the Stewart from Quebec and elsewhere. Vadeboncoeur chaired the Museums Committee of the Commission franco-québécoise des lieux de mémoire communs and was a member of the ICOMAM Council: ICOMAM is an international committee of the International Council of Museums specializing in museums and collections of arms and military history. 'The Stewart Museum had a lot of international friends in the museum world and Guy was right there with them,' Bolton said. There were collaborations, for instance, with museums and other institutions in France. The museum oversaw the transformation of Manoir de Limoëlou in St-Malo, France, the house that once belonged to Jacques-Cartier, into a museum. David Stewart was able to purchase the collection of Abbé Nollet, a French professor who developed scientific demonstration instruments for the kings of France — and Vadeboncoeur was involved an exhibition shown at Versailles. The Stewart Museum collaborated in an exhibition with the Jewish Public Library held at the museum in 1990, Planets, Potions and Parchments, that featured a fragment from the Dead Sea Scrolls among more than 200 scientific manuscripts, books, maps, amulets, and magical texts brought together from collections in Europe, Canada, Israel, Great Britain and the United States. Vadeboncoeur is survived by his wife, Jocelyne, his children, Amélie and Alexandre, and their spouses, and his three grandchildren.
Edmonton Journal
a day ago
- Edmonton Journal
'Gizmo', 'Satan,' and 'McLovin': Inside the changing world of pilot calls signs at CFB Cold Lake
As far back as the Second World War, Canadian pilots have used call signs to identify themselves to colleagues in the air and on the ground. Article content Such short-hand monikers are used in official and unofficial communications as well as by Canada's allies, and have appeared in pop culture through films like Top Gun. Article content Article content The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) says call signs serve as more than identification markers, and reflect both generations of aviation heritage as well as the contemporary pilots who assign the nicknames to their peers. Article content Article content While once considered to be permanent, call signs and the policies that govern them have been updated in recent years amid controversy over some individual nicknames and the process by which they were assigned. Article content Article content Those concerns prompted an overhaul of standards around call signs and the process used to choose them, according to over 200 pages of records acquired by Postmedia via several access to information requests that produced records primarily from CFB Cold Lake in Alberta but also to other bases. Article content 'While the RCAF continues to value tradition and camaraderie, we recognize that certain call signs previously considered acceptable may no longer reflect the evolving culture of the organization,' reads a statement to Postmedia from Maj. Marie-Eve Bilodeau with the Canadian Armed Forces. Article content 'Our approach remains flexible, allowing the fighter force culture to evolve alongside broader societal expectations.' Article content Article content The documents list close to 100 different call signs, and while the origins of many of those are difficult to determine many are apparent attempts at humour. Article content Call signs referencing first or last names were common, including one pilot with the surname Chu who was given the call sign 'Pica' in reference to the Pokemon character. Article content Entertainment was a popular source of inspiration for call signs including 'Bollywood,' 'Jar Jar,' 'Gizmo,' 'Footloose,' and 'McLovin' in apparent reference to the 2007 film Superbad. Article content 'Call signs, much like nicknames between good friends, are intended to maintain tradition and contribute to esprit de corps,' Bilodeau stated. Article content Some call signs were acronyms, including 'POG' in reference to TSN's Play of the Game highlight segment, 'RIC' referring to an officer who rides (his motorcycle) in crocs, and 'DATA' for a pilot whose colleagues apparently believe doesn't always think ahead.
National Observer
2 days ago
- National Observer
Toronto Zoo to become home of Cedar, a blind baby moose rescued near Ottawa
The Toronto Zoo will soon become home to a blind baby moose who was rescued near Ottawa earlier this month. The two-month-old baby moose, now named Cedar, was found by an animal rescue group on a rural road in Hawkesbury, Ont. Cedar was brought to Holly's Haven Wildlife Rescue, where he spent the last three weeks getting professional veterinary aid and care. "The moose calf was blind and wandering on its own with no sight of a mother," said Lynne Rowe, the rescue organization's director of operations. Rowe said staff immediately set up a room to assess Cedar's health, and found he has partial sight in one eye. By the next day, a small outdoor enclosure was created for him to move into. While Rowe said they would usually turn to Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Rosseau, Ont., to secure permanent shelter for rescued animals, they were told the sanctuary was at capacity with moose. So Rowe shifted gears and reached out to the Toronto Zoo, which they said felt like a "fantastic alternative." The two-month-old blind moose has been receiving veterinary care while sheltered at Holly's Haven Wildlife Rescue. In order to get Cedar to the zoo, Rowe had to obtain approval from the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources. It came in within a day of applying. "Moose cannot be taken out of the wild to be put in a zoo," Rowe explained. The only way a native Canadian animal like a moose can end up in an enclosure is if it is deemed unfit to be released back into the wild. Dolf DeJong, CEO of the Toronto Zoo, said the zoo has a suitable moose enclosure and would be happy to welcome Cedar. A full zoonotic disease scan and other risk assessment steps will be taken before the move. "Anytime you're moving ungulates around the province, that's really important," DeJong said. "Our veterinarians will connect with their veterinarians now so we can get a full understanding of Cedar's condition and make sure we're able to provide that support he needs for him to thrive." DeJong said the best-case scenario would have been for the animal to be healthy and released back into the wild. But there are upsides to this alternative solution. "Many Canadians don't have the chance to see a moose, have never realized that they are massive, incredible animals with really fun diets and some really unique adaptations," he said. "And if he needs a forever home, we're excited to be able to share that story and to provide that care for him." At this time, DeJong said there is no set date for when Cedar will be moved to the zoo or when visitors can see him. The priority is making sure Cedar is in good health, he said. "This is a visually impaired moose who will have his list of challenges. So our team will be doing their homework to make sure he's got the highest probability of success possible," he said. "He's certainly been through a lot," DeJong said. "It's an honour and a duty we don't take lightly." Cedar will continue living at Holly's Haven until he is cleared by vets to be in good shape to travel and all required paperwork at the zoo's end is complete, Rowe said. "I'm very eager to see him settled into his new place," Rowe said. "I will definitely visit him at some point in the future."
