Jasper council hears providing temporary housing for those who lost home to wildfire not possible [Video]

Town council in Jasper heard Tuesday it won’t be possible to secure temporary housing for everyone who lost their homes in a devastating wildfire in July.

The municipality estimates roughly 2,000 of the town’s 5,000 residents now have nowhere to live, as more than 800 housing units were destroyed in the fire.

“Housing was a challenge before the fire,” said Andy Esarte, the town of Canmore’s engineering manager who is temporarily working with Jasper and Parks Canada’s Joint Recovery Co-ordination Centre.

Esarte told council the Joint Recovery Co-ordination Centre has been focused on securing housing for those deemed essential workers, such as hospital staff, but further options are being assessed for other key workers, like teachers ahead of schools reopening next week.

Alternatives include prefabricated housing, housing already available within Jasper and available housing in nearby communities such as Hinton, Esarte said.

Assessments of those options will be included in a proposal that will …