A state of emergency was declared in the Grand Falls-Windsor, Bishop’s Falls and Connaigre Peninsula areas on Saturday night and extended to the Botwood area on Sunday. Premier Andrew Furey asked residents to prepare for a possible evacuation. The Bay d’Espoir Highway, which connects the Connaigre Peninsula on Newfoundland’s south coast to the rest of the island, remains closed and will remain so until further notice. While officials believed the fires would merge into one over the weekend, Jeff Motty, a forest ranger, said that is not expected to happen Monday. According to remote sensing technology, Motty said the Paradise Lake fire is estimated at 6,614 hectares, while the Bay d’Espoir fire is about 5,273 hectares. In an interview Monday morning, he said it was too early to tell if the fires got even bigger overnight. Motty said there is still open flame and heavy smoke coming from the fires, which has made firefighting difficult. “Even with water bombers, it was too much smoke to safely get through the fires there yesterday,” Motty 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) Motty said there was some positive news as temperatures at the site were expected to be cooler on Monday, around 23C, and winds were expected to lighten and shift to a northwesterly direction on Monday afternoon. Motty said more favorable weather conditions are expected to push the smoke away from 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 attack officers — who will observe the fire — ready to fight the flames. “So once we can get into that fire, hopefully we’ll make some good progress,” Moti said. Meanwhile, Motty said the Paradise Lake fire is near power lines and jumped one of the lines. Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro said in a statement that the fire crossed two transmission lines from Bay d’Espoir and did cause the lines to fall. They said both lines were reactivated and the journey caused no disruption to customers. NL Hydro said the lines have been reliably operational since Saturday, but the fire is increasing the risk of travel due to smoke and soot contamination. Meanwhile, Hydro said the fire has not reached the Labrador-Island Link transmission corridor, which lies between the fire and the communities. The utility said it does not anticipate 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 fire. He said bulldozers were working along the 100-foot-wide transmission line to dig and create a gap in the vegetation to stop the fire’s spread. “They’re going to create a 90 meter fire point. So we’re making great, great progress on that,” he said. Charred trees and sections of vegetation on the Bay D’Espoir Highway after a large forest fire swept through the area, closing the highway. (Submitted by Alisha Joe) Motty said Parks Canada is also initiating some prescribed burning to make fires more effective. “We have a lot of different strategies between ground crews, air traffic crews, prescribed burns and wildfires that we use to hopefully protect communities from these fires.”
Air quality warnings
Meanwhile, Environment Canada meteorologist Rodney Barney said the weather will play a big factor in how the fires behave in the coming days. Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement stretching from Gander to the Bonavista Peninsula as smoke from the wildfires reduces air quality. WATCHES | Premier Andrew Furey is telling residents of towns near out-of-control fires to prepare for a possible evacuation:
NL declares state of emergency amid worst bushfires since 1961
Newfoundland and Labrador declared a state of emergency as a result of what Premier Andrew Furey called the province’s worst wildfire situation since 1961. “Fortunately, the winds are much lighter today, so that’s generally favorable for the firefighters,” Barney said. He said winds will be between 20 and 40 kilometers per hour, but dry conditions could cause erratic fire behavior. Meanwhile, Barney is eyeing rain that could drench the province on Tuesday. However, the heaviest rainfall – between 15 and 25mm – is expected in the southern half of the island and towards the Avalon Peninsula, while only five to 10mm of rain is forecast for areas where the fires are burning. “Not huge amounts for central, but it will certainly help,” Barney said. While Furey urged people near the fire to be on the alert, no evacuation orders had been issued as of Monday morning. A bus will take people from Grand Falls-Windsor concerned about possible poor air quality from wildfires to central Newfoundland at 11 a.m. NT. According to a statement on the city’s website, the bus will take passengers to a provincial government-run evacuation shelter in Deer Lake. There are pick-up locations at Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium and Windsor Stadium. In Bishop’s Falls, residents who want to leave the area due to possible smoky conditions 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 medications, eyeglasses, a change of clothes and personal items. People wishing to leave the area should arrive at muster stations by 10am. and anyone requiring transportation should contact the fire department, according to the release. Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador