Premier says weather co-operating as firefighters attack Labrador City blaze

Smoke from a wildfire is shown in Labrador City, N.L. in a Friday, July 12, 2024 handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Janelle Nippard

HALIFAX — A change in wind direction, cooler temperatures and possible precipitation made for favourable conditions for attacking the wildfire threatening Labrador City, the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador said Sunday.

Andrew Furey told a news conference the blaze that exploded into an inferno on Friday and triggered mass evacuations in the western Labrador town did not significantly grow Saturday night, and a change in weather and wind patterns were "very encouraging."

"The winds have changed to a northeasterly pattern which will blow the fire back on itself and limit its fuel source, which is all very good news," he said.

A number of water bombers and aircraft have been deployed to attack the blaze that had been considered under control earlier in the week.

A sudden change in weather conditions Friday caused the blaze to grow from six to about 100 square kilometres — advancing 21 kilometres toward the town in just four hours.

The premier said despite the progress in suppressing the blaze, it's too early to say when the roughly 7,450 city residents who were ordered to leave Friday night will be allowed to return to their homes.

Furey said Friday the fire became so powerful and aggressive as it was consuming dry fuel that it began to generate its own wind pattern and travelled in the opposite direction of the wind.

"In talking to fire officials yesterday on the ground in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, they told me they had never seen anything like this," he said Sunday.

"Sucking the oxygen in and creating its own local weather system is remarkable, but that's not there today."

Thanks to improved weather conditions and massive firefighting efforts, the premier said the fire remained about six kilometres away from Labrador City and one kilometre from the town’s landfill.

Furey said the province will provide some financial assistance for the residents who have been evacuated, and he expected to make details of that program available within a day.

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, which cuts through the wilderness in the southern part of the region.

Federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan issued a statement on Sunday saying he has approved a request for assistance from the province and Ottawa will mobilize "all necessary federal resources" to attack the fire.

The nearby community of Wabush, N.L., is being asked to prepare to evacuate on short notice should the fire worsen. A similar warning for Fermont, Que., was in effect but has since been lifted.

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 14, 2024.