JASPER, Alberta — We evacuated west in a conga line of cars and trucks to Valemount, B.C., not knowing if our old log cabin on Lake Edith outside of Jasper, Alta., was already in flames. Three weeks later, the wildfire had ripped through the Jasper townsite. The west side of the townsite looked as if the homes had not just been burned but bombed. Out at our cabin though, flying embers had scorched the grass to within five metres of the cabin. The main fire had not reached us. …Over the last decade the lake residents had worked with park wardens in the FireSmart program to create a defensive band. We cleared brush, hauled deadfall, cut branches on live trees up two metres from the ground and lopped the sweet-smelling juniper. Our line had held. I learned from a warden that in FireSmart we were essentially following First Nations fire practices.