Jasper Wildfire: The Immediate Aftermath

Real Talk Ryan Jespersen

One of Canada's crown jewels sustained devastating damage on July 24, as wildfire tore though the beloved mountain town of Jasper. In this episode, with firefighters still battling the blaze, we speak with evacuees, an extreme weather expert, a veteran fire chief, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

2:37 | Jasper town councillor Wendy Hall joins us from a cabin near Valemount just hours after losing her home in the fire.

12:30 | Extreme weather expert and former wildland firefighter Kyle Brittain explains how the Jasper wildfire spread so quickly, ultimately generating its own lightning storm.

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25:00 | Jamie Coutts was Slave Lake's fire chief when the town was levelled by wildfire in 2011. He gets real about why these fires happen, and who's responsible.

37:45 | Tyler Riopel, CEO of Tourism Jasper, has a message for his fellow Jasper residents and business owners.

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43:37 | Real Talker Cyrus has us a bit misty-eyed with his Ode to Jasper.

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48:20 | Premier Danielle Smith got emotional during a media availability about the Jasper wildfire. We take a look.

50:30 | Premier Smith joins Ryan from the road en route to Hinton, about 45 minutes east of Jasper.

1:03:10 | Ryan and Johnny debrief, and touch on public criticism around Premier Smith's emotional news conference.

1:07:20 | Jasper's a very special place for the Jespersen family. Ryan shares a few of his most memorable moments.

1:13:30 | We drop into our YouTube live chat to see what Real Talkers are saying about Jasper.

1:26:00 | Why did the Jasper wildfire spread so quickly? Who's responsible? What role may the mountain pine beetle play in all this? We look at some of the questions people are asking.

1:28:30 | Martin says it's time to politicize wildfires, while Brad says that's "incredibly poor tastes". Two different takes responding to the Jasper wildfire in this week's edition of (sorry) The Flamethrower presented by our good friends at the DQs of Northwest Edmonton and Sherwood Park.

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The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.