LAKE LOUISE – Smelling smoke at the Charleston staff accommodation residence she had just moved into two days earlier, 20-year-old Madeleine O’Conner quickly jumped into action only to find her neighbour in the next door unit had torched his apartment.
“The next door unit was burning and I went and pulled the fire alarm … he barricaded the room he had lit,” said O’Conner, who hails from Ontario and was in Lake Louise for a summer job.
“I pulled the alarm and went to the RCMP office, but they were already getting 911 calls. I was telling her what she was already hearing on the phone at the same time.”
Following an investigation by the Southern Alberta District General Investigation Section (GIS) in the July 3 fire, Lake Louise resident Timothy Alexander Peterson, 40, has been charged with arson disregard for human life, and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Residents had said Peterson had been wielding a knife, trying to stab people.
After a judicial interim release hearing, Peterson has been remanded into custody and will be appearing in Alberta Court of Justice in Calgary on July 7.
Cpl. Gina Slaney, a public information officer with the RCMP’s southern Alberta district, said Lake Louise RCMP received a report about noon on July 3 that the Charleston Residence was on fire and that there was a man on the roof who appeared to be in distress.
“Upon arrival, officers located a male on the roof and he was in possession of a weapon,” she said in a news release.
“Officers de-escalated the situation and convinced the male to come down a ladder, however, he slipped and fell to the ground, resulting in non-life threatening injuries,” she added.
“As this matter is before the courts, no further information will be released.”
Peterson was taken to a Calgary hospital by ground ambulance for treatment.
Stuart Brideaux, a spokesperson for Alberta Health Services EMS, said the man was initially non-compliant.
“EMS, with the help of RCMP, we were able to convince him to allow EMS assessment and ultimately transport to hospital,” he said.
While O’Conner said she was luckier than many, she still lost clothes and many other personal items in the blaze.
Her aunt has started a GoFundMe campaign to help replace items for O’Conner, many of which are expensive.
“We grabbed our important stuff and got out,” said O’Conner, noting they had time to quickly do that because their room on the third floor of the Charleston residence, No. 302, was right next door to the one on fire.
“I lost clothes and shoes and other personal stuff, but I had my wallet on me and my phone, but others lost passports and work visas, all that stuff.”
After being evacuated from the burning building, O’Conner said residents were bused to the Lake Louise ski hill where they were signed in as the ski hill tried to account for everyone, and given food.
She is temporarily living at the Lake Louise Inn.
“We’re really well cared for,” she said, noting she was meant to be working at a ski hill restaurant for the summer but is unsure what happens next.
Reflecting on the day’s events, O’Conner said everything initially happened so fast that there was no time to be scared.
“The fire was really small at first, and I personally didn’t realize what it would turn into. I thought this is dangerous, but let’s stay on top of it,” she said.
“But it spread quickly, so I feel like seeing at the early stages, I wasn’t that scared… we thought it was going to get contained and it will be fine.”
Along with many individual GoFundMe campaigns set up by family and friends of residents who lost everything in the blaze, the communities of Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise are also rallying behind the staff.
The Banff Canmore Community Foundation (BCCF) stepped in.
BCCF works in partnership with community organizers to channel funds and support in times of emergency. Contributions to the Bow Valley Emergency Fund will be flowed to support relief efforts in Lake Louise – and taxable receipts are available.
"The fire at Lake Louise’s Charleston staff residence yesterday has been devastating," states BCCF.
"Many people have lost all their belongings and are now facing a dire housing situation amidst an already very complicated community housing crisis."
Mount Norquay is also helping with donations, with drop off at the Banff train station. People are asked to drop off any clothing, bedding or toiletries at the Bike Banff Desk or the Norquay Activity Desk.
A clothing drive bin has been set up in the Wilson Room of the Lake Louise Inn to also collect donations – clothing, towels, toiletries etc.
Canmore’s Le fournil Bakery is also collected donations on Tuesday, with items lining the hallways behind the bakery from generous residents. Another collection will take place on Thursday, July 6, from 8 a.m. to 3 p. m.
The fire in the three-storey log building took several hours for firefighters to bring under control. Known locally as Chucktown, emergency services were quick to evacuate the building of all residents.
Banff's fire department responded to help their counterparts in Lake Louise with three vehicles/apparatus and 12 firefighters, as did Canmore Fire-Rescue with a ladder truck and crew of four to the structure fire.
A Parks Canada initial attack crew and helicopter were on site to ensure the structure fire didn’t spread to the nearby forest.
STARS air ambulance was initially dispatched to the incident, but was stood down shortly thereafter.
Officials with the Lake Louise ski resort and summer sightseeing gondola say they are “shocked and devastated” by the fire.
They say their thoughts are with all those affected by this terrible incident and are committed to providing assistance and resources to staff.
Dan Markham, the resort’s communications director, said they now believe about 165 people have been displaced as a result of the fire.
He said there is no firm timeline for reopening the summer sightseeing and gondola operation as staff deal with the loss, although the resort is looking at a three- to four-day window.
“We are evaluating things daily,” he said.
Markham said people worked the phones to find everyone a place to stay.
“We’ve managed to find beds for the majority of staff at different hotels in Banff and Lake Louise,” he said.
