The Amazing Jasper Horse Rescue – by Terri Mason
With one of the most devastating wildfires in memory racing out of control through one of Canada’s most famous National Parks, those in the path of this killer blaze had no chance.
The wildfire, fuelled by a massive area afflicted with 40 percent pine beetle-killed timber, was beyond stopping. Right in its path were over 80 head of outfitter and Parks Canada horses and the beautiful mountain town of Jasper.
The oncoming disaster could be seen for miles, choking smoke billowing miles high and blanketing Western Canada.
Some 26 head in the area are government horses used by patrolling Parks Canada wardens, men and women not hired for their horsemanship skills. The Parks horses must be “bomb-proof” and not panic at the sight of pack boxes or a whiff of a grizzly bear.
Jasper’s lifeblood is tourism, which includes providing a variety of experiences like taking visitors to sites they can’t see from the road, all accessed on horseback. With the high demand for trail rides, the lion’s share of the outfitter’s mounts, some 55 head, were in two separate locations at Pyramid Lake and Jasper Park Lodge (JPL). These are “dude” horses—often sneered at by the uneducated—but by God, they safely and quietly pack kids and grandparents, the skilled, the afraid, and the horse-mad little girls on their trip of a lifetime.
All were in the path of this killer fire.
We didn’t wait for the evacuation notice,” explained Dennis “Gunner” Ireland, the guide and outfitter who owns the horses. “My staff and crew had gathered up some of the Pyramid [Lake] horses, and we had four trucks with four stock trailers (24’ long) loaded, and they left for the winter pasture near Tete Jaune,” he said. “They dropped off the horses but weren’t allowed back, so we had four trucks and trailers stuck on the other side of the fire.”
Fortunately for Gunner and Parks Canada, outfitters and some folks from Hinton were aware of the danger. “Colette Walker from the mounted division of Hinton Search and Rescue called to see if I needed help getting the horses out,” he said. “I was near desperate. I had no way to get them out. I was about to start opening gates,” he said.
Hinton S&R put out the call, and some 14 trucks and horse trailers showed up with an RCMP escort, and they only had one shot. Half of the trailers went to Pyramid; the others were loading at JPL, ferrying Gunner’s horses to the Hinton rodeo grounds. Outfitter Monty Groat of Lazy VU Rocky Mountain Pack Trips in Willmore also answered the call, hauling out some of Gunner’s horses and a load of Parks Canada mounts and dropping them at the rodeo grounds in Hinton.
“There was one horse that didn’t want to load in all the excitement, so we waited until everyone had left. Things quieted down some, and between the two of us, we got him loaded,” said Gunner. “We ran around, grabbed what we could and then we made a run for it.”
Gunner’s horses were temporarily housed in the rodeo arena and pens. “Someone donated a bunch of round hay bales and rolled them right down the middle of the arena,” said Gunner.
Once all the government horses were out, they were loaded up again and delivered to the YaHa Tinda Ranch. Monty delivered the last load to the government ranch west of Sundre at 3:30 a.m.
Ireland and Rik Kenworth.
Word spread, and soon, Gunner was offered grass from a half-dozen people in the Hinton area.
“My friend Murdock has 50 acres just west of town. He called and said, ‘You know what? There’s nothing here but grass. Bring them out.’ So, we brought 51 horses out there.”
Gunner is a very grateful cowboy. “That whole horse society, Hinton Ag, and the horse community of Hinton, they jumped into action,” he said. It was pretty amazing, and it went really smooth,” he said. “We definitely owe them all, that’s for damn sure.”
Postscript
Thanks to the fast actions of the Hinton S&R and Monty Groat, all of Gunner’s horses were saved. However, Gunner and his two brothers each lost their own homes in the conflagration. Dennis Ireland, Gunner’s brother, is also Jasper’s mayor.
