Evacuation order lifted for St. John’s suburb; wildfire destroys Newfoundland school

A water bomber provides a steady steam of water to assist crews on the ground at the Paddy's Pond wildfire, just outside St. John's, N.L., on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly

ST. JOHN’S - There was a very happy chicken in a suburb of St. John’s, N.L., on Friday after residents who had been forced to leave their homes because of a wildfire were finally cleared to return.

Hazel, a four-year-old red sex-link chicken, belongs to Susan Barrett, who was evacuated from her Paradise, N.L., home on Tuesday. Barrett was staying at her parents with her husband and their two German shepherds; Hazel had to spend her days sequestered in a garage.

On Friday afternoon, barely an hour after officials announced an end to the evacuation order, the family was home and Hazel was once again running free. “Oh my God, she’s the happiest. She’s out in the yard, on the outskirts of the woods there, and she’s living her best life,” Barrett said in an interview.

“I’m a little bit leery, though, because we’re still under an (evacuation) alert,” Barrett added. “I’m thinking, if they let us go back home, they must be pretty confident that we won’t have to leave again. But we’re leaving all our valuables and things still packed in our little camper.”

The wildfire that prompted the evacuation broke out Monday, near Paddy’s Pond, about 15 kilometres south of downtown St. John’s. It was still burning Friday, measuring about three square kilometres, and roughly 20,000 people remained on evacuation alert, including Barrett and her husband. The alert requires residents to be prepared to leave their homes at a moment’s notice.

Four out-of-control fires were burning across the province Friday, the largest of which did not bring residents good news that day. Officials announced on Friday morning that the fire near Kingston, N.L., had spread along the northwest shore of Conception Bay and destroyed a 60-student elementary school in Western Bay.

“The devastating loss of Cabot Academy is felt beyond the walls of the school, it is a loss for students, staff, families, and the entire region,” said a statement from the province’s teachers association.

The churning Kingston wildfire had grown to encompass more than 91 square kilometres as of Friday morning. It has forced about 3,000 people from their homes and destroyed an estimated 100 houses and structures along the Bay de Verde Peninsula, which is home to centuries-old fishing communities spread along rugged, rolling cliffs.

A building dating back about 115 years that was once a Methodist school hall was also lost, local officials said in a Facebook post. It was a registered provincial heritage structure.

Premier John Hogan said authorities have begun contacting people whose homes have been destroyed. “Our thoughts are with you all,” Hogan said. Others, he acknowledged, still do not know if their home is intact.

In central Newfoundland, officials announced a highway that had been closed by another fire would reopen on Saturday for limited travel. A fire south of Grand Falls-Windsor had shut down Bay d’Espoir Highway, which is the only route connecting the southern Connaigre Peninsula with the rest of the province. A press release said government staff would escort traffic in one direction at a time through checkpoints.

Meanwhile in Nova Scotia, officials worried that more wildfires could ignite in the days ahead after thunderstorms rolled across the province Thursday night and into Friday morning. Forest protection director Jim Rudderham said lightning can penetrate deep into the ground, which means it can take some time for the resulting heat and fire to emerge.

Eleven wildfires were burning across mainland Nova Scotia on Friday, including an out-of-control fire in Annapolis County that forced the evacuation of about 100 people. Provincial officials said that on Friday at 3:30 p.m. two CL-415 water bombers from Quebec began working on the Annapolis County fire.

In New Brunswick, nine wildfires were burning out of control Friday, all of them in the northeastern part of the province. The largest, in the Miramichi area, ignited 10 days ago and covers 14 square kilometres.

Natural Resources Minister John Herron said the province would soon be welcoming 40 initial attack firefighters from Ontario, but he also confirmed that 20 firefighters from Nova Scotia would be returning home Saturday.

By Sarah Smellie.

With files from Michael MacDonald in Halifax.