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‘I love Jasper’: Backcountry campers not deterred by dramatic wildfire rescue
EDMONTON — Nestled along a meadow in Jasper’s backcountry, Charles Vantanajal and his family stood in awe of the dynamic, ever-changing cloud of thick, white wildfire smoke that rose near Oldhorn Mountain.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “But we didn’t think that we were in any danger.”
Vantanajal, his wife and their 13-year-old daughter had been hiking through Tonquin Valley last week, when a massive wildfire forced the evacuation of roughly 25,000 people from the town of Jasper and Jasper National Park.
The fire destroyed a third of the town.