Churchill Falls fires: evacuees worried but grateful

Nearly four days after being evacuated to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, several citizens of Churchill Falls are beginning to take steps to leave the region until the fires threatening their community are extinguished.

On Wednesday evening, Hydro Newfoundland and Labrador began the evacuation of approximately 750 residents and contractors who work at Churchill Falls.

A small team remained on site to operate the community’s power plant, which provides 15% of the electricity consumed in Quebec and nearly a quarter of the electricity used in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Saturday, Hydro NL. summoned the evacuated citizens to Happy Valley-Gosse Bay in order to fully understand what their needs will be over the coming days.

According to the head of the power plant and the municipality of Churchill Falls, Gerard Dunphyall evacuated employees registered with their employer during a meeting organized at the hotel North 2 Saturday afternoon.

Churchill Falls”,”text”:”We need to understand their needs so we can plan accordingly, because we don’t know how long they will be outside of Churchill Falls”}}”>We need to understand their needs so we can plan accordingly, because we don’t know how long they will be outside Churchill Fallshe explained.

Mr. Dunphy adds that Hydro NL. will provide assistance to employees so they can travel to family or friends elsewhere in the province.

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Worried but grateful employees

Amy Wheelansone of the many evacuees who are now 300 km from their accommodation in Churchill Fallssaid she is grateful for the measures taken to accommodate her.

It’s excellent, they establish action plans […]. They want to make sure everyone is taken care ofshe says before adding that it is too early to know when she will be able to come home.

Her husband, Matthewis also grateful for the welcome received at Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Staying with friends with their children, this couple says they want to go to Nova Scotia and stay there until things calm down in Churchill Falls.

We are going to drive to Cape Breton and stay there until we can returnexplain Matthew Wheelans.

Ryan and Danielle Butleralso evacuated with their two young children on Wednesday evening, are among the lucky ones who were able to stay with family in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

We have family here who have generously agreed to welcome us, take care of us and make sure we have everything we need. This family also has young children and it’s nice to all be able to be togetherrejoices Danielle Butler.

Ryan also said he appreciates that Hydro NL. is considering organizing charter flights so that workers can easily travel to Newfoundland.

Goose Bay”,”text”:”[Mercredi soir], we took the two children, clothes and what we could gather. We got out pretty quickly and everyone is taking care of us here in Goose Bay”}}”>[Mercredi soir], we took the two children, clothes and what we could gather. We got out pretty quickly and everyone is taking care of us here at Goose Bayhe says.

We are not sure what the future holds. Maybe we’ll go to the island [de Terre-Neuve]. We’re a little nervous. We worked hard for many years and there are many memories in our home. It’s stressful. We hope that our community will cope welladds Danielle.

Although the last few days have been an emotional roller coaster, Susan Chislette She also says that nothing is spared to reassure and make life easier for the evacuees.

They make sure we know what’s coming and allow us to go to family or friends to be in a safer placeshe said, adding that she will probably travel to Newfoundland with her family in the coming days.

They’ll let us know when it’s time to go home. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.

Now that they are Happy Valley-Goose Bay Over the past few days, Danielle Butler explains that many of them are starting to realize that returning home may take time.

We don’t know when we will be able to return. At first, we thought we would only be gone for a few days, but now we are starting to understand that it could be longer than expected. We try to take things one day at a time […]. Hopefully we’ll have a home to return to when this is overshe says.

The situation remains stable

In an update released Saturday morning, Hydro T.-NL indicated that the fires raging in the region of Churchill Falls have not progressed since Friday.

Personnel will continue to focus on fire suppression effortswe can read in an update published online.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Forest Fire Management Officer, Mark Lawlorfor his part indicated that the weather forecasts for the day are good, which should allow air tankers to continue their efforts to bring the fires under control.

The most threatening fire for the region is still located about seven kilometers away.

According to Mr. Lawlor, p.m. or 4 p.m.h30, when the northwest flank of the fire”,”text”:”Friday, the air tankers attacked the fire, and it went well until about 4 or 4:30 p.m., when the north flank -west of the fire”}}”>On Friday, air tankers attacked the fire, and it went well until about 4 or 4:30 p.m., when the northwest flank of the fire intensified.

The air tankers were redeployed in this sector and things went rather well from Friday eveninghe explained during an interview on the airwaves of CBC.

Environment Canada is forecasting showers starting this evening and lasting until the end of the night in the region of Churchill Fallswhich could help firefighters in their efforts.

For the moment, the activities of the power plant of Churchill Falls have still not been disturbed.

With information from Patrick Butler, Héloïse Rodriguez and CBC