Changing weather conditions show the damage caused by a wildfire near the Bay d’Espoir Highway in central Newfoundland. Officials say air quality is better than expected and crews will be able to fight the fires on foot Thursday. (Darrell Roberts/CBC)
The size of the large wildfires burning in central Newfoundland is starting to stabilize, with weather conditions finally allowing crews to fight the fires on the ground.
On-duty provincial wildfire officer Jeff Motti says the fire burning in Paradise Lake south of Grand Falls-Windsor has seen no change in size since the last update Wednesday, while the fire burning near Baye d’Espoir Highway. has shrunk by 155 hectares. The fires cover 17,233 hectares and 5,614 hectares, respectively.
“Things are getting more stable,” Motti said Thursday morning.
“I don’t want to kid myself by saying ‘we’ve turned the corner’ because that happened to me last week, but we’re definitely seeing a change in conditions on the ground that are more favorable.”
Improving conditions allowed the Bay d’Espoir highway to remain open Thursday, but the Department of Transportation says the highway will be reassessed daily. Drivers should drive carefully as visibility may be impaired and the department is asking people not to stop during traffic.
There is another fire of note in South Lake, located north of Grand Falls-Windsor near the community of Point Leamington. The fire is about 283 hectares in size, Moti said.
A change in winds along with reduced smoke and less intense burning from the fires allowed ground crews to tackle the fires on foot Thursday. Much of the firefighting has so far been done by air, as conditions have been largely unsafe for firefighters to tackle head-on.
“I believe the winds will be in our favor today. They won’t be too strong, so hopefully the smoke won’t be a major problem for many communities that have been affected in the past,” Moti said.
Two large wildfires burning in Paradise Lake and near the Bay d’Espoir Highway are beginning to stabilize, according to Wildfire Fire Chief Jeff Motti. Officials are also keeping an eye on two smaller fires shown on this map. (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador)
A Special Air Quality Statement from Environment Canada remains in effect for Grand Falls-Windsor and surrounding areas, including Bishops Falls and Badger.
Winds shifted from the south overnight, with officials predicting gusts could bring heavy smoke from the Paradise Lake fire to the region. However, Environment Canada meteorologist Mike Vandenberg said air quality is better than originally expected.
“We haven’t seen any evidence of smoke on the satellite in the center, but it’s pretty cloudy, so it could be hiding things,” Vandenberg said early Thursday morning.
A slight hint of smoke could be felt outside our hotel in Grand Falls-Windsor this morning, but there is no widespread smoke or fog in the city at this time.
The best we could find was water vapor rising from the operating facilities. pic.twitter.com/ef71T6bCTo
—@HeatherMGillis
“The air quality appears to be much better than we originally expected… [but] if the fire changes at all during the day today, it could certainly send some smoke up toward Grand Falls-Windsor and that general area.”
Winds are expected to remain southerly at around 15 km/h throughout Thursday and into Friday, according to Environment Canada.
The area will see a mix of sun and cloud, along with wind and highs near 21 C. Skies will cloud over overnight with temperatures dropping to 13 C.
Air quality advisories in other central Newfoundland communities were lifted Thursday morning, but Grand Falls-Windsor, Bishops Falls and Botwood remain under states of emergency.
Wildfire Duty Officer Jeff Motti says conditions are becoming more favorable for fighting the two major wildfires burning in central Newfoundland. (CBC)
Forest access roads remain closed despite the reopening of the highway, with Moti reminding cabin owners in the area not to be in the area to check their properties.
“Just because it’s in there [the perimeter] doesn’t mean your cabin is on fire. Now we’re actually making the transition to where we can actually get people on the ground … and get helicopters flying into these areas.
Motti says the crews hope to make assessments of the structure by flyover in the coming days and share details directly with the cabin owners.
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