ATVs temporarily banned from forested areas in N.L., says premier
In the face of growing wildfires — and finite resources to fight those fires — Premier John Hogan said on Wednesday morning he's temporarily banning off-road vehicles in forested areas of the province.
"As of right now, we simply cannot afford any further risks, given the number of out-of-control wildfires we have, [and] the high index we have, which will result in issues allocating our finite resources if wildfires continue to arise on the island and in Labrador," he said during a live wildfire update.
Hogan said there is no evidence of fires caused by off-road vehicles, but he said he declared the provincewide restriction out of an abundance of caution.
The ATV ban — which includes quads, side-by-sides, and dirt bikes — will be in place until at least Aug. 17.
Hogan said the provincial fire index can change daily, and the order applies to areas where there is a high fire index.
Hogan had previously said he would not ban ATV use, but on Wednesday said he made the pivot because the fires continue to grow despite efforts to suppress them, and it became a step he felt they needed to take.
"We need to make sure that no further fires crop up," he said.
There will be penalties for people who violate the ban, said Hogan, but they will be understandable with people who need to use off-road vehicles to get around.
He said he anticipates opposition to the decision.
Forestry Minister Lisa Dempster said she knows people use off-road vehicles to get around to their jobs and for activities like berry picking, but said this is a temporary measure.
"We're asking you to make a sacrifice right now, but I want to remind you this is for a window in time," she said.
Dempster also said more detail about the off-road ban will be released soon.
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'We will find you'
Last week the province introduced hefty fines for violating the provincewide fire ban, ranging from $50,000 to $150,000, as well as up to a year imprisonment.
Hogan said two fines have been issued under the new, increased penalties — one for the use of an excavator in a wooded area, and another to a corporation carrying out mulching.
Hogan said he hopes people understand how serious the provincewide fire ban is.
"We will find you, and we will fine you," he said.
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More support coming
Hogan said he spoke with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday evening, and received positive news.
"He offered any and all help that the Canadian government can do. He committed to making sure that everything we had asked for we had received, which is true to date."
The federal government can help the province with logistical support, said Hogan, such as setting up further evacuation centres, as well as firefighter support and transportation support to and from sites.
"That will be here in the next coming days. That will certainly help our suppression efforts," he said.
Private contracts
The province has also been securing assets from private suppliers to boost its firefighting capabilities.
Hogan said two Black Hawk helicopters out of Utah will cost the province about $3.3 million, while a Sikorsky Raptor helicopter from Alberta will cost about $2.1 million. A high-capacity helicopter from Manitoba will cost about $1.1 million.
"Within a budget, there's contingency money in the budget. So, how much is there right now, I'm not sure.… But we will pay for this, and make sure every asset available is here to work on these fires," said Hogan.
He said some of the assets have been secured for a couple of weeks.
"And of course, we don't know how long we're going to need them," Hogan said. "The approach we're taking right now is to get as many assets here as we can. If we overpay and don't need them because the fires are out, I'll take that all day long."
Most of Newfoundland under extreme fire hazard risk
Meanwhile, thousands of people are either under evacuation orders or an evacuation alert.
An evacuation order was issued for the Three Island Pond area in Paradise late Tuesday afternoon, coming on the heels of the provincial government issuing a regional state of emergency Tuesday afternoon for parts of St. John's, Paradise, and Conception Bay South, as the Paddy's Pond wildfire continued to burn out of control just outside of St. John's.
An evacuation alert is in place for the Southlands and Galway neighbourhoods of St. John's, as well as parts of Paradise and Conception Bay South.
There are no further evacuation alerts or orders as of Wednesday morning, but Hogan asked people to monitor government channels in case that changes.
WATCH: Wildfire forced closure along stretch of Trans-Canada Hwy in Newfoundland Monday
Hogan said the Paddy's Pond fire is still hot, and ground crews on its southern edge were pulled out of the site on Tuesday because of extreme fire behaviour. The fire is also about 250 metres from the Trans-Canada Highway.
He said fire breaks are being constructed, and there will be ground support and air support, including six water bombers, on site Wednesday.
Provincial fire duty officer Mark Lawlor said the Paddy's Pond fire is 212 hectares as of Wednesday morning.
"The growth yesterday was less than we expected, so that was a positive yesterday. The suppression efforts were very successful on that fire. In saying that, today is going to be another hot, windy day," Lawlor told CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show.
The provincial fire hazard map still considers most of the island of Newfoundland as at an extreme risk of fire, with the west coast considered to be between high and extremely high risk of fire. Labrador is considered to be between moderate and very high risk of fire.
Lawlor said given the extreme risk of fire in the area, there is potential for increased fire behaviour at the Paddy's Pond fire but he hopes to make progress on suppressing it Wednesday and to keep the fire away from the nearby communities.
Kingston fire continues to burn out of control
The Kingston fire in Conception Bay North also continued to burn out of control.
Hogan said the Kingston fire was just over 6,400 hectares Wednesday morning.
Lawlor said there was some growth on the fire's northern boundary on Tuesday, adding that high temperatures and high winds in the area created extreme fire behaviour.
He added they are continuing with the construction of fire breaks on the southern and northern edge.
Ground crews and aircraft fought the Kingston fire on Tuesday and they will be back on Wednesday, he added.
Lawlor called the Holyrood fire, which is being held, "a success story," adding, "We're monitoring that fire and there was no activity there yesterday."
Some items to include in your emergency grab-and-go kit. (The Weather Network/Canva)
Bay d'Espoir Highway remains closed
In central Newfoundland, Lawlor said the Martin Lake fire is still being fought. However, the fire overwhelmed the resources they had on site Tuesday, and the fire moved, he said.
Lawlor said it is now 800 hectares.
Hogan said the fire is about 300 to 400 metres west of the Bay d'Espoir Highway.
"I think we can confidently say the road, the Bay d'Espoir Highway, will remain closed throughout the day," Hogan said.
Given dry conditions, hot temperatures and winds, Hogan said it's likely the fire will grow again, but he said there have been no confirmed structure losses from the fire.
Spaniard's Bay fire 'knocked down,' duty officer says
Meanwhile, a new fire broke out in Spaniard's Bay on Tuesday, near the Anglican cemetery on Maul Tree Hill, and residents of Brown's Road were asked to evacuate and go to the town hall.
Lawlor said it was "knocked down" Tuesday evening by the local volunteer fire department, the provincial forestry department officials as well as some air assets.
"Unfortunately we had a flare up last night but it was, the local fire department went in and they took care of that," said Lawlor.
Mayor Paul Brazil said firefighters were at the site overnight, hosing down flare ups.
"Everybody was nervous," he said.
Brazil said people rallied together to support one another after some residents were evacuated, dropping off snacks and drinks, as well as keeping each other informed about the situation.
He added former firefighters called up and offered their services and urged people to not loiter to watch the fires because it gets in the way of emergency responders.
"At times we had 14 people required just to do traffic controlling in time. That's a lot of resources," said Brazil.
Taverspine fire being held
In Labrador, the Taverspine fire, located about 19 kilometres south of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, is now listed as being held.
Lawlor said their management team is coping well with the available resources and ordering assets from other provinces as they are available.
"It's a complex situation with many moving parts," said Lawlor. "Overall we're very pleased with the way things are being handled.
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'Fingers crossed' for rain
Environment Canada has two weather alerts issued for the province — an air quality statement is in effect for the northern Avalon Peninsula and St. John's area, as well as a heat warning for most of the province.
Meteorologist Mike VandenBerg said there is a chance of a minor shower on the northern Avalon on Thursday
"But it's quite a slight chance, unfortunately."
VandenBerg said temperatures will remain high and as of Wednesday morning he said the wind is blowing in a south and southwesterly direction, and it will pick up to gusts around 50 kilometres per hour.
"Unfortunately what that's going to mean is it's going to keep the smoke in and around the [St. John's] metro through the day today."
He added winds will switch to a more southerly direction overnight and into Thursday, so he said that's good news as it will push the smoke out of the city but it will impact areas around Conception Bay South.
"No matter where you are, someone's going to be getting the smoke. Just an unfortunate reality," said VandenBerg.
But he said temperatures are expected to cool in the coming days.
"We're really keeping our fingers crossed for any sort of rain going forward."
Work ahead
Steve Crocker, the MHA for Carbonear–Trinity–Bay de Verde, said people haven't seen a wildfire season like this in a long time, and what is needed is rain.
He said his role is to work with his colleague to ensure available resources are used, as well as to help plan for additional steps they can take to help people in the region.
"When this fire is out, there's still going to be a lot of extreme amount of work that will need to be done in the coming weeks, coming months and coming years," said Crocker.
Crocker added the government will be there to assist people as they rebuild, and the role of government will be to help in the immediate aftermath and the long term.
He said the dry, hot and windy conditions are also a challenge.
Surgeries delayed
Some health care services are being negatively impacted by the wildfires.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services said elective and day surgeries scheduled for Wednesday are being postponed at the Health Sciences Centre, Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre and St. Clare's Mercy Hospital in St. John's.
In a statement, it said the decision was made over worries around staffing being impacted by the evacuation alerts and orders. It added surgeries will be rescheduled and surgeries planned for the rest of the week will be assessed.
"NL Health Services would like to reassure the public that all urgent and emergent health-care services are not affected at this time and the emergency departments remain open," the health authority said.
It added outpatient services, laboratory and medical imaging appointments, public health, mental health and other community-based appointments are not impacted.
Games adapts
The Canada Summer Games is also being impacted by the ongoing wildfires. Late Tuesday night it was announced beach volleyball and sailing events scheduled for Wednesday are being postponed again.
Baseball games that were going to take place at the Team Gushue Sports Complex are being relocated to St. Pat's Ballpark and the lacrosse games will remain at DF Barnes Arena.
"We are monitoring the situation closely and working with the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre, the City of St. John's, the Towns of Paradise and Conception Bay South, and our National Sport Organizations to adjust competition plans as needed," the organization said in a statement on social media.
This article, written by Elizabeth Whitten, was originally published for CBC News. Story contains files from The St. John's Morning Show. Header image courtesy of Ryan Cooke/via CBC News