Residents of Slave Lake are preparing to mark a milestone. On Tuesday it will be one year since the devastating wildfire that destroyed nearly one third of the town.

The 2011 fire burned more than 400 homes, businesses and other buildings to the ground, and left thousands of residents evacuated from the town for weeks.

Over the past year the rebuilding process has begun for many residents, and for some families who lost everything last spring, the anniversary is an important day.

Chris and Jennifer Taylor are among the many that lost their home in the fire, and are now rebuilding.

Forced to live in a campground for months, the Taylors say the last year has been very emotional and filled with uncertainty, but watching their new home being built has given them a much needed lift of spirits.

"Seeing the house [go up] and knowing in a month we will be in a brand new home, and we can get back to some normalcy in our lives, it's been huge for me" Chris Taylor told CTV News.

The Taylors new home is one of hundreds currently being built. More than 200 new-home building permits have been issued over the past year in Slave Lake.

Town officials, residents and work crews will mark the one year anniversary of the blaze officially on Tuesday with a ceremony at the new multi-rec centre near the middle of the town.

Mayor Karina Pillay-Kinnee says for many in Slave Lake the anniversary will be a bitter sweet occasion.

"I think it's important to acknowledge the day and to recognize how far we've come, and the help we've received, but it is definitely a day of mixed emotions, I'd say", Pillay-Kinnee said Monday.

The Mayor says there is a lot of guarded optimism in the town right now, with the memory of last year's blaze very much in people's minds, and the knowledge that wildfires are already threatening other communities in Northern-Alberta.

"We're really sensitive about that [other fires] and I know a lot of people are reliving their experiences from last year," the Mayor said.

As of Monday provincial fire officials said there were more than 50 wildfires burning in Alberta with three of them listed as out of control.

The official event to mark the one year anniversary of the Slave Lake fire will start at ten o'clock Tuesday morning.

With files from Bill Fortier