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STORY: :: Massive fires destroy a fire chief's home

in the Canadian tourist town of Jasper

:: Jasper, Canada

:: July 28, 2024

:: Matthew Conte, Jasper fire chief

"That night as things were happening, we were out on patrols looking for spot fires, and doing everything we could to protect the town. It was, unfortunately, I did lose my own home in that, and did notice that when I was out on my patrols. Pretty overwhelming, but at the same time it was a lot going on, we had a lot of crews running around that continued to do spot fires. It is hard to kind of put that on the back burner and make sure we are doing protect what we could. (OFF CAMERA REPORTER ASKS SO YOU WERE TRYING TO SAVE YOUR HOME TOWN WHILE YOUR OWN HOME BURNED?) Yes I was, yeah."

Still, the status of the wildfire in Jasper National Park remains classified as "out of control," the government agency Parks Canada said, adding that it is the largest wildfire in more than 100 years in the park.

The town and park, which draw more than 2 million tourists a year to this area of the Rocky Mountains, were evacuated on Monday.