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By The Canadian Press

Hotelier of the Year

Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge GM lauded for saving hotel from 2024 wildfire

Nov 5, 2025 | 1:45 PM

The man who runs Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge is being saluted by peers around the world for his quick thinking to save the iconic Alberta hotel in last year’s devastating wildfire.

Garrett Turta, the Alberta lodge’s general manager, was recently named hotelier of the year by Historic Hotels Worldwide.

The organization says the award goes to the person making the highest contribution to leadership in the industry and considered the most prestigious prize.

Turta says his jaw dropped when he was notified that he was a recipient.

Turta was in charge in late July 2024 when the hotel complex was threatened by the wildfire.

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He says about 25-hundred guests and staff had already fled the ferocious wildfire near Jasper, Alberta when he ordered the only other remaining lodge worker to turn on the irrigation system.

He says the sprinklers created a vapour barrier and stopped a majority of the resort from burning down.

The wildfire burned one-third of the homes and businesses in Jasper’s townsite, forcing 25-thousand residents and visitors to flee.

(The Canadian Press)