LABRADOR CITY, N.L. –
Water bombers from Quebec are helping to fight a wildfire that has forced the evacuation of Labrador City.
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey said today from a meeting in Halifax that overnight weather conditions in western Labrador have also helped keep the flames at bay.
Furey says he’s hopeful that today will be another “productive day of suppression and mitigation” of the wildfire, as water bombers from Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador come at the blaze from two directions.
The province’s Forestry Department on Sunday reported a favourable change in wind direction and a drop in temperatures, and there was also expectation of some rainfall in the area.
The winds are blowing in a northeasterly pattern, pushing the inferno back onto itself and limiting its fuel source.
On Friday, an abrupt change in weather conditions caused the blaze to grow from six to about 100 square kilometres — advancing 21 km toward Labrador City in just four hours.
More than 7,000 Labrador City residents were told to pack up and leave around 5:30 p.m. local time Friday.
Municipal officials asked them to head east to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, a six-hour drive along the remote, two-lane Trans-Labrador Highway.
Wildfires have already devoured twice as much land in Newfoundland and Labrador this summer than in typical years, Blair Adams with the province’s Forestry Department said Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2024.