Mother Nature isn’t co-operating in the fight against three raging wildfires in Newfoundland and Labrador, as conditions remain dry, temperatures are high and no rain is expected, says the provincial fire duty officer.
The three fires have forced hundreds of people to evacuate their communities on the Avalon Peninsula — from both the Kingston fire in Conception Bay North and the fire near Holyrood. A third fire in central Newfoundland, south of Bishop’s Falls, was reported on Tuesday.
Provincial fire duty officer Jeff Motty said they expect temperatures to be high Wednesday.
“That’s definitely worrying for everyone involved in the fire world when you do not see precipitation for a long period of time,” he told CBC Radio’s The St. John’s Morning Show.
He said dry conditions lead to an elevated fire risk in those areas.
“The province as a whole is not really experiencing any precipitation, so it’s challenging all the way around,” he said.
According to the provincial fire hazard map, as of Wednesday morning the vast majority of Newfoundland is considered to be between a high and an extreme risk of fire.
He said “light” winds are good news and on Wednesday morning they will assess the fires to determine how they can safely battle them.
“Because in a moment’s notice, with these dry conditions, extreme fire behaviour can change quickly,” said Motty.
Evacuation orders remain in place for Kingston, Perry’s Cove, Western Bay and Small Point-Adam’s Cove-Blackhead-Broad Cove, as well as sections of Holyrood and Conception Bay South.
A third fire broke out in central Newfoundland on Tuesday afternoon, prompting an evacuation order for cabin owners in an area off of Route 360 — the Bay d’Espoir Highway. That area includes cabins in Martin Lake and Great Rattling Brook.
Evacuation alerts remain in place for Salmon Cove and Ochre Pit Cove, so residents should be prepared to leave if necessary.
Motty said the Kingston fire is still burning out of control and as of the last assessment is 721 hectares. Crews will map it again on Wednesday.
He couldn’t say how many structures the Kingston fire had destroyed, and there has been an initial assessment but the report hadn’t been finalized, “so I’m not prepared to speak on that.”
The Holyrood fire is also still burning out of control, but Motty is happy with the progress they made fighting it on Tuesday. They still estimate it to be 22 hectares, but it will also be re-assessed.
“We fought an aggressive line yesterday on that, with water bombers, and we managed to maintain the line,” he said.
On Tuesday, the provincial government announced New Brunswick is sending three aircrafts, known as Air Tractor 802s, which are expected to arrive sometime on Wednesday.
Motty said the Martin Lake fire in central Newfoundland is an estimated 150 hectares in size. Three helicopters, one water bomber and ground crews are assigned to it.
Despite the three wildfires, Motty said crews are feeling positive.
“I think morale has been at a high because of the amount of community support that we get,” he said.
Environment Canada meteorologist Erica Ranger said people in the northwest Avalon Peninsula should stay indoors and keep windows closed because of low air quality, adding there is a similar warning in effect for the Bonavista to Clarenville areas because of fire smoke.
“Those winds are shifting, they’re going to be turning more southwesterly this morning. So we should be seeing that smoke kind of go offshore,” said Ranger. “So hopefully they’ll get some relief from that smoke later this morning.”
But Ranger added as long as the fires persist, the smoke will likely be around.
Ranger added temperatures are going to stay relatively high for the rest of the week and isn’t forecasting much rain for the next few days.
“So sadly, no relief for those fires,” she said.
A special air quality statement is still in effect for St. John’s and portions of the northern Avalon Peninsula.
Mark Ploughman, a councillor in Small Point-Adam’s Cove-Blackhead-Broad Cove, said he understands Tuesday was a productive day of fire fighting with good aerial support. He added there were also ground crews, made up of firefighters from across the region, who were focused on protecting structures.
He said shifting wind on Tuesday resulted in the evacuation order being extended to Perry’s Cove, which brought more people to the evacuation centre.
“But overall we were advised it was a productive day.”
On Wednesday winds are expected to be lower so Ploughman said he’s optimistic it will be a good day for fire fighting.
He said the ground crews have done a good job of preserving structures in the community but at this time he said they don’t have a good sense of how many structures could be lost.
“Until the fire is deemed under control and people can get in and do a proper assessment, we don’t have a really good sense of how many structures have been lost,” said Ploughman.
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