Two massive wildfires burning in central Newfoundland near the Bay d’Espoir Highway and Paradise Lake were still out of control Monday morning after growing significantly over the weekend.
A state of emergency was declared in the Grand Falls-Windsor, Bishops Falls and Conegre Peninsula areas on Saturday evening and extended to the Botwood area on Sunday. Prime Minister Andrew Fury asked residents to prepare for possible evacuation.
The Bay d’Espoir Highway, which connects the Connaigre Peninsula on Newfoundland’s south coast to the rest of the island, is still closed and will remain so until further notice.
Although officials thought the fires would merge into one over the weekend, Jeff Motti, the province’s on-call wildfire officer, said that wasn’t predicted to happen Monday.
According to remote sensing technology, Moti said the Paradise Lake fire is estimated at 6,614 hectares, while the Bay d’Espoir fire is about 5,273 hectares.
He said in an interview Monday morning that it was too early to say whether the fires had gotten bigger overnight.
Moti said there was still open flame and heavy smoke coming from the fires, making firefighting a challenge.
“Even with water bombers, there was too much smoke to safely tackle those fires there yesterday,” Motti told CBC’s Newfoundland Morning.
A family waits in Bishop’s Falls with Salvation Army disaster services volunteers looking for a clear window to navigate the Bay D’Espoir Highway. (Danny Arsenault/CBC)
Moti said there was some positive news as temperatures at the site are expected to be cooler on Monday, around 23C, and winds are expected to be lighter and change direction, blowing from the north-west, on Monday afternoon .
Moti said more favorable weather conditions are expected to blow the smoke out of Grand Falls-Windsor and Gander and further into eastern Newfoundland.
“So those communities that have been smoking recently, hopefully they’ll get a little bit of a reprieve today,” he said.
“I hope we make good progress”
Moti said there are eight water bombers, two bird planes and air raid officers who will be monitoring the fire, ready to fight the flames.
“So as soon as we can get that fire under control, we’re hoping to make good progress,” Moti said.
Meanwhile, Motti said the Paradise Lake fire is near power lines and jumped one of the lines.
In a statement, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro said the fire cut two transmission lines from Bay d’Espoir and caused the lines to be down. They said both lines were re-energized and the trip caused no disruption to customers.
NL Hydro said the lines had been operating reliably since Saturday, but the fire increased the risk of travel due to smoke and soot pollution.
Meanwhile, Hydro said the fire had not reached the Labrador-Island electricity transmission corridor, which lies between the fire and the communities.
The company said it does not expect power outages for customers on the island.
He said they are using the area around another power line, south of Grand Falls-Windsor, to create a firebreak. He said bulldozers were working along the 100-foot-wide power line to dig and create a gap in the vegetation to stop the fire from spreading.
“They will create a 90-meter fire gap. So we’re making great, great progress on that,” he said.
Charred trees and vegetation line parts of the Bay D’Espoir Highway after a large wildfire swept through the area, closing the highway. (Submitted by Alicia Jo)
Moti said Parks Canada is also getting involved with some prescribed burns to make firebreaks more effective.
“We have a lot of different strategies between ground crews, air crews, prescribed burns and firebreaks that we use to hopefully protect communities from these fires.”
Air Quality Alerts
Meanwhile, Environment Canada meteorologist Rodney Barney said weather will play a major factor in fire behavior over the next few days.
Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement covering from Gander to the Bonavista Peninsula as wildfire smoke reduces air quality.
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“Fortunately, the winds are a lot lighter today, so overall that’s favorable for the firefighters,” Barney said.
He said winds will gust from 20 to 40 kilometers per hour, but dry conditions could still cause the fire to behave erratically.
Meanwhile, Barney is expecting rain that could drench the countryside on Tuesday. However, the heaviest rainfall – between 15 to 25 millimeters – is expected over the southern half of the island and towards the Avalon Peninsula, while only five to 10 millimeters of rain is forecast for areas where the fires are burning.
“It’s not a lot of money for headquarters, but it sure helps,” Barney said.
Although Fury urged people near the fire to be on alert, no evacuation orders had been issued as of Monday morning.
A bus will evacuate people from Grand Falls-Windsor who are concerned about possible poor air quality from wildfires in central Newfoundland at 11 a.m. NSE. According to a statement on the city’s website, the bus will take passengers to an evacuation shelter operated by the provincial government in Deer Lake. There are pickup locations at Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium and Windsor Stadium.
In Bishop’s Falls, residents who want to leave the area because of possible congestion and poor air quality can meet at the Salvation Army church or call the city office if they need transportation to the church. The city is asking residents to pack essential items such as cash, prescription drugs, glasses, a change of clothes and personal items.
People wishing to leave the area should arrive at assembly points by 10 a.m. on the North Sea, and anyone requiring transportation should contact the fire department, according to the statement.
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