Alberta, Canada, has become a popular place for filming. You might recognize some of the following movie titles—Unforgiven, The Revenant, Brokeback Mountain, and Legends of the Fall—a handful that have been shot here.
This image was not a film set from the post-apocalyptic HBO series The Last of Us, recently filmed in parts of Alberta. This fire began in the early morning hours when the temperature outside was about -16 degrees F and it’s currently under investigation. As fire crews battled the blaze, the water began freezing and for perspective, one gallon of frozen water weighs just over eight pounds.
Built in the early nineteen hundreds, this historic hotel did not survive the lethal combination of fire and the crushing weight of the ice.
I remember this hotel from when I was in my twenties. The bar was a little on the rough side but stuff like that doesn’t matter as much when you’re young and invincible.
It was impossible to get close, so I shot these using my telephoto lens. While doing so I discovered that if positioned myself just right, I could capture a rainbow. Which I did right before my bare fingers turned numb from the cold.
What I love about my life is the passion my husband and I share for nature, and we make sure to take time to appreciate whatever that brings. Sometimes it’s beautiful but other times it’s incredibly destructive.
This fire did not take any lives, but a piece of history has been lost. The building was demolished a couple of hours after these photos were taken.
Take time to appreciate the places and people that surround you—you never know when they’ll be gone forever.
it's (almost always) about the water... 
Hi Sheryl, just thought i’d leave a comment here cos i tried to log in
to blog before and for ever reason it didn’t work…no worries.
anyway, this just brought to mind a similar disaster – must have been
over 20 years ago. I used to live in Ontario, Muskoka to be
precise….and there was an amazing grand hotel called the Windermere
House, that was a beautiful landmark in the area. A film was actually
being shot, The Long Kiss Goodbye…..and there was a fire, it was early
February and due to the terrible freezing rain etc., fire trucks took a
long time to get there. they had to break the ice on the lake where
the hotel stood to get water to try and put the fire out. They failed
and the place, which was completely built with wood, burned to the
ground! your images here are amazing and i was just reminded of how
sad i was when the fire took our beautiful hotel. it was a place we
often went to…we lived about 15 minutes away….for dinner or just
have a evening drink on the patio. By the way, they rebuilt it a few
years later….using concrete!!!
Cheers, Linda
Wow, great story Linda. Thanks for sharing it with us. I’m going to look it up.
I had to look up the conversion to Celsius to be able to get perspective. Oh my word, that is cold! And here, you have shown us the weird results that a combination of heat and cold can lead to. These are fascinating pictures; I love each of them for different reasons, both enhanced by the story behind them! I am grateful that you always have your camera on hand, Sheryl.
Thanks Jenny. I’ve photographed natural rime built up on ski lifts but it hadn’t occurred to me that firefighting in winter in extreme temperatures would have that same effect.
It’s a crazy result, the combination. A film set couldn’t recreate the wonder you showed as the building breathed its last. Your fire engine-rainbow-water arc- snippet of building pic is also sensational
Wow! That’s an incredible picture. Only you, with your incredible eye for detail, would see that rainbow.
Thank you but you know how much I love optics! I’m always on the look-out.
Beautiful shots of heartbreaking devastation…only you can capture. I’m grateful every day for the places & people around me, like you🙏🏼🥰
Thank you ❤️