By Lara Fominoff (@fomsy1 on Twitter)

Waterton businesses persist even after financial losses

Sep 25, 2017 | 4:50 AM

WATERTON LAKES NP – As the gates opened to the general public September 20 for the first time in two weeks, tourists began once again trickling into the still beautiful, but badly scarred Waterton Lakes National Park.

On the side of the road leading to the town, people could be seen taking turns posing for pictures with the lakes and mountains as a backdrop. But now, instead of seeing vast forests of green trees, grasses and flowers, their faces registered a sort of shock at the destruction and starkness of the landscape nine days after firefighters fought bravely to save the townsite and many of its landmarks.

As those tourists drove into the Waterton townsite, their shock turned to utter delight as they saw the beautifully treed main street, now displaying bright fall colours, the quaint homes, and lakeside docks.

All of it was intact.

But as people wandered through the townsite, they noticed many businesses that might otherwise be open, were boarded up or displayed closed signs.

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A few though, have opened their doors once again, hoping to make up for lost time, if only for a few more weeks.

Ashley and Jim Riddle, have owned the Bear Mountain Motel for the last two years, and say their reservation book was full before the Kenow Fire began racing towards the town.

“Before the fire, business was booming. I definitely think with the Canada150 celebration, that there was a lot more people coming to the parks cause they had free admission and everything, so business was great. September was actually shaping up to be a really good month.”

When the two were notified of evacuation alert Sept. 5, they knew they would have to leave soon, because of the way the fire was moving.

“We started a lot of the preparation, you know, putting the furniture inside, taking down all of our plants and what not. If an ember was to fall on them, that could spark a fire on your building. So we were trying to take all precautions to prevent a fire from popping up here.”

They had one hour to leave when the evacuation order came down at 1:15 p.m. Sept. 8. With their personal items packed up, they headed out of town to a relative’s place until they were allowed back into the park Tuesday, Sept. 19.

“It wasn’t as bad as we feared. We didn’t really know what to expect,” Riddle explains. “We knew the fire hadn’t gone into the townsite, and hadn’t burned anything in the townsite, so at least that was nice to know ahead of time.”

She says they both thought either ash would be covering everything, or there would be water damage. But it was surprisingly clean, and they even had a handful of people who kept their reservations, just in case they decided to re-open.

“We’ve got a few arrivals coming this weekend, and then we’re also able to house some of the clean up fire crew that’s coming into town to make the area safe again. We’re looking forward to having people again.”

Still, they lost thousands of dollars in revenue the two weeks they had to close their doors. As Riddle looks down at the floor, then around a room still filled with wooden Adirondack chairs, she takes a deep breath.

“It was pretty significant. Typically July and August we fill up pretty easy because that’s when most people are travelling. This September I’d say we were already between 80 and 90 per cent full. But once the evacuation alert came in, as people were starting to hear of the fire and its potential to move in this directions, the cancellation calls just started coming in and coming in.

“It was just a disappointment to see that revenue go out the door.”

Riddle and her husband say they’ll stay open for a few more weeks, to try and recoup some of their losses, then pack up for the season. Until then, they and the few other restaurants and gift shops still open are welcoming everyone back with open arms.

“Come on back. There are definitely limited services available… but Waterton’s still beautiful. It’s just a different beautiful now.”