Lake Louise workers on road to recovery after devastating fire destroys staff residence

The last 10 days haven't been easy for Otto Thomas.

"It's been a long sort of journey," he said. "It's probably the longest week I've ever felt personally."

On July 3, a devastating fire tore through the Charleston Residence in Lake Louise, destroying the log building and everything in it and displacing around 160 people — including Thomas, who's called it home since October of 2022.

"Absolutely every document that says I am who I am and that I'm allowed to be in this country got lost," Thomas said.

The Charleston Residence housed staff, many of whom are international workers, who work at the Lake Louise Ski Resort.

During the peak winter season, as many as 400 people lived in the building, and up to 200 called it home in the summer months.

Following the fire, a 40-year-old man, a resident of Lake Louise, was taken into custody and charged with arson and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

Since the fire, the community has rallied around those who were left without a permanent place to live.

Businesses have donated gift cards and clothes, fundraisers have been set up and some local residents have provided their homes as temporary accommodation.

"We managed to raise something like 75 grand within the week and also distribute that," Thomas said. 

"I don't think what we would be doing as well as we are without the community and the friends that we've sort of had."

Plans for getting staff into permanent residences are well underway. 

Dan Markham, the communications director with the Lake Louise Ski Resort, said they're hopeful that within the next two weeks, new modular housing units will be in place and ready.

"The first 49 of those units will be in place within the next 10 days and we hope that there will be another 49 10 days thereafter," he told The Homestretch. 

"So things are starting to look good for a little more permanency in the situation."

The units, he says, are similar in size to those at the Charleston, with similar facilities. They will be placed in the parking area at the ski resort, giving residents direct access to food at the resort throughout the day.

They are also similar to the units that are used in northern Alberta throughout the winter, so they will be ideal for the purpose that the resort needs, Markham said.

"It will become a community very much like there was in Charleston but obviously missing the rich history of of the building and the place where it was," he said.

In terms of replacing the burned-down building, however, things are still unknown.

"Until that site can be secured, cleaned and hopefully something rebuilt in its place, that's not something I think we can expect until the beginning of next summer when new construction season would begin," Markham said.