Three major wildfires in central Newfoundland continue to burn out of control, and the province may need help from the federal government to regain control. Prime Minister Andrew Fury said on Friday he had contacted the federal government to ask for help if needed. Federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair tweeted just before 3 p.m. that he spoke with provincial Public Safety Minister John Hogan about the active fires and said the federal government “stands ready to support the province as it manages the situation.” Hot weather and strong winds have kept the fires burning, stranding travelers at both ends of the Bay d’Espoir highway as closures over safety concerns continue to roil the region. Incident commander Jason Glone told CBC News on Friday that the fires are “extremely active” and it’s not safe to have fire crews on the ground. “[Water] The bombers have been able to do some work, but the head of fires is very unstable, so they can’t get it done,” Glode said. “They have grown significantly in size and will continue to grow significantly in size today, tomorrow and the day after.” The amount of smoke and the size of all three fires create problems for monitoring the ground covered by the fires. Glode said helicopters can’t navigate the smoke to get accurate updates, but he guessed the Bay d’Espoir Highway fire had grown from about 1,000 hectares earlier in the week to about 1,500 to 2,000 hectares on Friday. A hectare is 10,000 square meters. The Lake Paradise fire, Glode said, started as three fires but has combined into one large fire, which he said could cover up to 4,000 hectares by Saturday. The third fire burning in the area is located near the south lake. It’s grown from about 80 hectares at the beginning to about 170 hectares on Friday, and it’s still growing. Mallory Slade and her family drove through flames and smoke as a wildfire burns along the Bay d’Espoir Highway. (Submitted by Mallory Slade) “The biggest concern right now would be the smoke. The smoke will affect most of the communities to the north of these fires,” Glode said. “With the amount of smoke and material being thrown over them, our concern is also with any hot material that may fall from the sky.” Glode said area residents should take precautions, such as wetting the property and storing fuel properly. He said some cabins near Paradise Lake are basically on fire. There are about 200 in the area. “At this point we are no longer able to go in there and once the fire is out enough for us to go in we will do an assessment of any damage.” Forestry Minister Derrick Bragg said there was evidence a cabin had already burned, as witnessed during a flyover on Friday. He said he had also seen smoke coming from other cabins. “It’s going to burn more than one cabin out of that,” Bragg said.
Resources are spread thin
On Wednesday, Newfoundland and Labrador received the assistance of three aircraft and seven fire crews from Quebec. A spotter plane has already arrived and two bombers are expected to be in Gander by 4pm on Friday. Resources and crews will remain for about a week to help contain the fires. The past two weeks have been tough on provincial resources as flare-ups have kept crews busy while hot weather persists. Bragg, whose department has been on the front lines of the fire response since July 24, told CBC News Friday afternoon that the province is considering imposing a fire ban on all outdoor fires in the central and eastern parts of the island. IMPPublic Advisory: An open fire ban has been declared for the insular portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador: pic.twitter.com/oc3rIcGyZ8 —@FFA_GovNL Shortly after 6 p.m., the department announced the fire ban, which prohibits fires on forest land or within 300 meters of forest land in central and eastern Newfoundland. The ban is in effect from midnight on Saturday until midnight on August 16. “This is precautionary because right now we have all our resources in the center. We can’t afford any kind of escalation anywhere else, to be honest,” Bragg said. “We have skeleton teams all over the province.” As for reopening the Bay d’Espoir highway, Glode said that’s the goal, but safety remains a priority. “If the crews decide we can open it with tanker support and helicopters, we will. But right now, given the fire, the weather, the behavior and that kind of thing, it’s like we have to roll [with it],” he said. “It won’t open today, it might not open tomorrow, so everyone has to be prepared that it could be extended for a long time.” The Canadian Red Cross and Salvation Army are providing emergency services for those stranded on the Trans-Canada Highway due to the closure. The Red Cross is also coordinating emergency accommodation for people living in the areas affected by the closure of the Bay d’Espoir motorway. A concentration camp has been set up at the Salvation Army Citadel in Grand Falls-Windsor. The shelter is accessible anytime after 6pm on Friday. Read more articles from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
