Tears welled in Tasha Porttin's eyes as she reminisced on the sheer beauty of the place she's called home for 10 years. Jasper's mountain peaks and the picture-perfect pine trees that frame its vivid baby-blue lakes make it a popular tourist destination attracting millions each year. The natural beauty and small businesses, like the pharmacy she started, make the quaint alpine town in Canada’s Alberta province a jewel of the nation.
It's a "place that has the biggest heart of any community of I've met", she said through tears. "It grabs people and never lets go." Those memories have now been replaced by an evolving nightmare.
An out-of-control blaze has levelled about 33% of the buildings in the Canadian Rockies resort town, and fire crews are still working to douse the flames that have already burned 89,000 acres (36,000 hectares). Rain tamped down the fire on Thursday night, and no new blazes have started in the last day, officials said in an update on Friday. But winds are expected to pick up overnight, which could worsen conditions, and hot, dry weather is forecast to return by Monday.
Out of a total of 1,113 structures in the town of Jasper, 358 have been "destroyed," according to town officials, who added that it may be weeks before residents can return home. But "all critical infrastructure in Jasper was successfully protected" - including schools, a hospital, and a water treatment plant. Ms Porttin fled the area in a camping trailer that her husband bought less than.