Wildfires in Labrador have caused power outages in the territory’s west and evacuations in the east, leaving hundreds of people in the region wondering where they will take their next shower or when they will be able to return home.
The fires knocked out power to two transmission lines Tuesday afternoon, leaving residents of Labrador City and Wabush in western Newfoundland without electricity.
Jordan Brown, the region’s NDP MLA, said Wednesday that authorities have since managed to supply Labrador City with electricity from Fermont, Quebec.
But he said there’s no way to do the same thing for the neighboring town of Wabush.
“It’s just the way the system was designed, because it was designed around mining and not building a community,” Mr. Brown said in an interview Wednesday. “But the people of Labrador City certainly provide community to their neighbors in Wabush without power,” he added.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro said Tuesday evening it had evacuated all staff still working at the massive Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant after a nearby fire crossed the Churchill River earlier in the day, served as a natural firebreak.
The population of Churchill Falls, located about 250 km east of Labrador City, had already been evacuated last week. But essential personnel remained to operate the plant, which provides electricity to Labrador and some to Quebec. The plant is now operated remotely, with reduced capacity.
The Crown corporation said Wednesday it had restored power to most of its customers in Labrador City, while asking residents to conserve electricity and hot water.
“For Wabush customers, we are actively working to identify options to provide electricity. Thank you for your understanding,” the company said in a social media post.
Wabush has about 1,900 residents and the outage shut down parts of the municipality’s drinking water system, forcing officials to issue a boil water order. Brown said residents of Labrador City, home to about 7,450 people, were providing showers and drinking water to residents of Wabush, which is a 10-minute drive away.
Local brewery Iron Rock invited Wabush residents to fill their drinking water pitchers for free, and a nonprofit fitness organization, Work Out World, offered free showers.
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey was expected to provide an update on the fires Wednesday afternoon.
