(Halifax) A senior Newfoundland and Labrador government fire official said Monday that rain would intensify and help firefighters contain a wildfire that forced the evacuation of Labrador City.
George Gibbons, the provincial fire chief, said 10 to 15 millimetres of rain were expected throughout the day, but to truly “extinguish” the fire, which is about four kilometres from the town, 50 to 100 mm would be needed.
He reiterated comments made by Premier Andrew Furey earlier in the day that the rain gave provincial crews some breathing room to look for other locations along the perimeter to fight the fire.
The weather gives forestry personnel a bit of a break today and a chance to do some planning in the field and possibly establish fire breaks. […] and to look for places to install sprinkler systems around critical infrastructure.
George Gibbons, Provincial Fire Officer
“We divided the fire into two […] “Quebec has taken over the eastern part of the fire and Newfoundland has taken over the western part,” the official said.
Four water bombers and three helicopters from Newfoundland and Labrador were available to fight the fire on the southwest flank, while two water bombers and several helicopters from Quebec were available to fight the fire on the east flank. The Newfoundland and Labrador aircraft were temporarily grounded Monday afternoon due to a low cloud system.
Gibbons said the forest service has asked other provinces for help in fighting the fires. “There are a lot of fires across Canada, so it’s hard to get more resources… We’ve asked for 60 additional firefighters from outside the province,” he said.
On Friday, a sudden change in weather conditions caused the fire to grow from six to about 100 square kilometres, advancing 21 kilometres toward Labrador City in just four hours. More than 7,400 Labrador City residents were told to pack up and evacuate around 5:30 p.m. local time Friday.
City officials have asked them to head east to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, a six-hour drive along the Trans-Labrador Highway. The town remains evacuated.
Forest fires have already burned twice as much land in Newfoundland and Labrador this summer as in an average year, Blair Adams of the province’s Department of Forests said Saturday.
Mr Gibbons – who estimated the fire’s perimeter at between 15 and 20km – said it had burned so intensely that hot spots were likely to persist for days, adding that it was crucial firefighters could get into these areas and “put out a fire one hot spot at a time”.
He added that heavy rains are also a key ingredient to truly extinguishing the fire. “We have a lot of underground fires, so to get to the roots of the heat, you need a lot of water to dampen it down.”