Authorities in central Labrador say wildfires threatening the evacuated town of Churchill Falls remained stable Saturday, but there are no signs of significant precipitation by Tuesday evening in the weather forecast.
As a result, the 500 residents ordered to leave their homes on Wednesday are still wondering when they will be allowed to return home.
“At this time, we are not giving any estimate of when the residents of Churchill Falls will return,” provincial forest fire officer Mark Lawlor said in an interview.
Churchill Falls city officials told residents the wait could be long.
“As the duration of the evacuation order is unknown and residents are being moved to temporary housing, we want to help you prepare for possible longer-term solutions,” the city’s website states. .
Part of that preparation involves officials compiling a list of residents staying in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, a three-hour drive east, and Labrador City and Wabush, a three-hour drive west.
The city says one member of each displaced family must register with the municipality, which will allow it to pass on more information about the fire, which is just six kilometers from Churchill Falls.
Meanwhile, Lawlor noted that the Mount Hyde Lake fire began to intensify on Friday afternoon, but was brought under control.
“The fire has calmed down. It’s stable at the moment,” he announced.
However, Mr Lawlor said the weather forecast for Saturday evening had deteriorated, with gusts expected to reach 40 kilometers per hour, increasing the risk of the flames spreading. But that bad news was offset by Environment Canada’s forecast that thunderstorms could move through the region overnight.
“Thunderstorms would certainly help firefighters and water bombers in their task, but it is unclear when or where the showers will occur,” Lawlor said, adding that cool overnight temperatures also helped reduce the spread.
Over the next three days, the Churchill Falls area can expect a mix of sun and cloud and daytime temperatures to range between 19 and 25 degrees Celsius. This means “extreme fire behavior” is possible, according to Mr Lawlor.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, the utility that operates the massive Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant, issued a statement saying the fire was still burning on the south side of the Churchill River, located between the fire and the town.
“Factory operations are not affected at this time and are not at immediate risk,” the state-owned company said in a statement released Saturday morning.
Eight water bomber planes stormed the 15-square-kilometer fire, which broke out on June 13 and quickly spread a week later, prompting the evacuation order. Four of the planes are from the province. On Thursday and Friday, two arrived from Quebec and two others from Ontario.
Municipal authorities said firefighting efforts prevented the fire from getting bigger.
On Saturday morning, Prime Minister Andrew Furey released a brief statement on social media.
“Thank you once again to all first responders for their steadfast and remarkable work in fighting the wildfires near Churchill Falls and elsewhere across the province. Your efforts were effective,” he wrote on Facebook.
While the power plant was operating as usual, the utility said in a statement that it was concerned that smoke from the fire would affect power line insulators, which could stop the power supply.