Air tankers from Quebec and Ontario will help fight forest fires in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mark Lawlor, provincial wildfire chief, announced that two water bombers from Quebec arrived Thursday evening and two others from Ontario landed Friday.
There are currently 11 wildfires burning in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr. Lawlor says the additional air tankers will double response capacity in the province. “It’s a significant increase for us,” he rejoices.
Three new fires have broken out since Thursday in Labrador, bringing the total to 10 in this region.
A new fire also broke out in southwest Newfoundland. However, the blaze is no longer progressing.
Lawlor says crews are working hard to prevent the spread of the fire that forced the evacuation of the village of Churchill Falls, Labrador, on Wednesday.
With the help of the four aircraft, they will also attempt to keep the road between Labrador City and Happy Valley-Goose Bay open.
The fire near Churchill Falls has been burning since June 13, but winds suddenly changed direction Wednesday evening and the fire rose to quickly devour trees and advance two kilometers toward the village in just 45 minutes.
Authorities sent out an emergency alert ordering all residents to pack their bags and move out within an hour.
By Thursday afternoon, officials announced that it had more than doubled in size to about 10 square miles (16 square kilometers) and that the flames were just four miles from the village.
The small community is home to about 700 people, as well as a hydroelectric plant that supplies power to Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. A small team remained on site.
The power station is operating at normal capacity, assured Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.
However, the state-owned company said in a statement Friday that the smoke could damage parts of the power transmission lines.
“Teams are working to understand potential scenarios and mitigate any potential impact on customers,” the statement said.
Another nearby wildfire crossed the Trans-Labrador Highway about 17 kilometers west of Churchill Falls earlier this week.
This isolated two-lane highway cuts through Labrador’s vast, forested interior and is the only road connecting western communities to the rest of the province.
More than 500 residents and workers forced to evacuate Churchill Falls on Wednesday drove east along the highway for three hours in a thunderstorm to reach Happy Valley-Goose Bay, where a community center offered cots and emergency supplies.
As of Thursday evening, everyone had housing and no one needed cots anymore, Happy Valley-Goose Bay officials said in a news release.
“Geographically, Labrador is a large region, but when it comes to emergencies, communities really pull together. It’s the mentality of small towns: if someone needs a helping hand, you give them a helping hand if you can,” underlined the vice-president of the board of directors of the local SPA , Bonnie Learning.
Authorities said Friday it was still too early to determine when evacuees would be able to return to Churchill Falls.
