'All of your memories ... gone': Jasper evacuees settle in Calgary as wildfire rages in their community

Nearly 500 evacuees from Jasper have arrived in Calgary with more expected as the wildfire in their community continues to burn out of control.

As of Thursday morning, 465 evacuees had registered at the city's evacuee reception centre at Shouldice Arena to receive hotel rooms, mental-health support and pet supplies.

The residents, workers and tourists from Jasper were forced out of the National Park as a wildfire encroached upon the townsite, and they've watched on the news and social media the videos and photos showing the destruction to large parts of the area.

"It's just been a rough stretch (these) last couple days and we're all just trying to come together as one and, you know, Jasper's a tight-knit community," said Rhett Fleming, who has lived in Jasper for five years.

"The people I know who have been in that community for 40, 50, 60 years, their lives are all there. And just seeing a lot of the footage from the morning and everything ... their houses are gone," he said.

Dominique McQueen arrived in Calgary with only the black duffle bag her roommate in Jasper was able to pack for her before everyone had to evacuate.

"It's not only my stuff that I care about. This is our community," she said through tears.

"It's our home and it's a small town, so we all know each other. We all like it. It's like a family there. So that's probably the hardest part of it all."

Another evacuee, Alice Varshavska, lived in Jasper for two years after fleeing the war in Ukraine.

She's now in Calgary, unsure of what she'll go back to in her adopted community.

"We flew from Ukraine (and) we cried out all of our tears and left all those things, life, everything behind. And it just happens again," she said.

"It's just hard to realize that all of your memories (are) just gone."

The city's evacuation reception centre will stay open for at least the next 48 hours, officials announced Thursday.