Latest news with #waterbombers
Globe and Mail
4 days ago
- Globe and Mail
Newfoundland town evacuated due to ‘extreme wildfire behaviour'
Officials have ordered residents to flee a town along Newfoundland's northeast coast as an out-of-control wildfire burns just two kilometres away. An alert from the provincial Justice Department urges people in Musgrave Harbour, N.L., to leave because of 'extreme wildfire behaviour' in the area. It asks residents of the town of about 950 people to head southwest to Gander, N.L., which is about an hour's drive along a rural two-lane highway. Three water bombers and a helicopter have been dispatched to try to beat back the flames. Meanwhile, residents of two communities roughly 110 km south of Musgrave Harbour, N.L., are still on edge as another wildfire roars nearby. The fire in the Chance Harbour area ignited Monday and encompassed an area of about 16.6 square kilometres as of this morning.
CBC
4 days ago
- Climate
- CBC
Musgrave Harbour residents evacuating, wildfire now only 1 kilometer away
The town of Musgrave Harbour in Newfoundland and Labrador has been ordered to evacuate with a wildfire now only 1 kilometer away from the community. The evacuation order also includes Banting Memorial Park Campground, close to the town. All four of the province's active water bombers are now attacking the blaze which is steadily moving toward the town due to the prevailing winds. In a provincial update provided at noon Sunday, Jamie Chippett, Deputy Minister of the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, said that when the fire was detected at 8:00 p.m. Saturday evening it was 8 kilometres from the community. Now it is only 1 kilometer away. "It is at a very high rank, a rank 5 in technical terms, [that means it's] 'very active.' The community would be seeing lots of smoke," said Chippett. "We do have weather conditions with a wind that is 40 gusting to 50 west-southwest, which unfortunately puts the community directly in the line of the fire." Chippett said as of yet they don't have an estimate on the size of the fire because of smokey conditions, but they do know it is "within the hundreds of hectares." Minister of Justice and Public Safety John Haggie called it "a significant and serious issue." He reiterated that the province-wide fire ban remains in effect, and also asked that any drones be kept clear of the area, as they would prevent water bombers from flying in the area. The province advises residents to monitor official channels for updates. Musgrave Harbour evacuees are being advised to go to a reception centre in Gander at the Steele Memorial Centre on 155 Airport Boulevard. The Canadian Red Cross will also be there to assist. Haggie asked that everyone affected by the evacuation order call 709-729-0921 to register, even if they are not intending to use the centre or the Red Cross services provided in Gander. Residents attempting to leave the region without vehicles can go to the Musgrave Harbour fire department to avail of busing transportation, and to be brought to Gander, says Town Clerk Amber Littlejohn. Littlejohn is also asking that residents drive safely, and tell friends and family where they are. She also told CBC that the community is currently "drenched with smoke." The town fire department was on scene fighting the fire all night, said Littlejohn, who added that while they couldn't see the fire from the town, she could see the crews working to fight it. "We have a water bomber going back and forth. He's picking up water from a designated area in the ocean there, off our beach," she said. Meanwhile, Musgrave Harbour's town council has also declared a state of emergency, according to a letter released on social media. The letter states that the council has determined that the wildfire poses a serious safety risk to residents and property within the town. Fires continue across the province Meanwhile the air quality warning on the Bonavista peninsula due to the fire near Chance Harbour has been lifted. As of Saturday, that fire had grown to over 1,660 hectares and was still considered out of control. Provincial Fire Duty Officer Wesley Morgan says the wind has been helping keep the fire away from the nearby towns of Jamestown and Winter Brook. However it is still very much considered an active fire. In the 11:00 a.m. update, the forestry department said that Chance Harbour residents can expect to see significant smoke from the southern end of the fire. Three helicopters will also continue to work the fire throughout the day, and ground crews will be deployed once it is safe to do so. Ground crews are also still working on the wildfires at Nine Island Pond and Northwest Brook. A fire ban is also still in place across the entire province today. The province is reminding residents that open fires are still not permitted.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Wildfire on Newfoundland's Bonavista Peninsula mapped as largest in the province
CHANCE HARBOUR, N.L. — Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture says a wildfire near Chance Harbour on the Bonavista Peninsula is now the largest in the province. In a post on social media it says the size of the blaze is now mapped at 16.6 square kilometres, up from 15 square kilometres just about a day earlier, although the department notes this growth could have happened over time. The department says firefighters continue to fight the blaze, and are using various equipment including water bombers and helicopters. It says a sprinkler system is being used on the south and southeast section of the wildfire, closest to the communities of Jamestown and Winter Brook, and there has been no growth of the flames in that direction. There are five active wildfires with two — Chance Harbour and Winokapu in Labrador — being classified as out-of-control, meaning the firefighting efforts are not fully able to contain the flames. It has been a busy wildfire season for the province with 170 blazes so far this year, scorching an estimated 60 square kilometres of ground. The Canadian Press
CBC
5 days ago
- Climate
- CBC
Police evacuating cabins as forest fire ignites in Hickman's Harbour, say RCMP
The Clarenville RCMP are evacuating cabins after a new forest fire was in Hickman's Harbour N.L. Saturday. In a post on social media, Clarenville RCMP say they are currently on the scene, and asking for the public to avoid the area. The provincial Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture Department also say that two water bombers have been diverted to the wildfire, and that forestry crews are on the way. The province is also asking that people in the area pay attention to official channels, such as the RCMP, for information
CBC
05-07-2025
- General
- CBC
'It weighs on you': Ontario wildland firefighters being overworked due to lack of resources, union says
The union representing Ontario's wildland firefighters says they're working long hours that are contributing to "fatigue," and is calling for a funding increase to address a lack of resources. "Historically Ontario's had about 180 four-person fire crews," said Noah Freedman, a wildfire crew leader in northwestern Ontario and vice-president of Local 703 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). "That's not accounting for all the changes," he said. "Things are getting hotter, seasons are getting longer, a little drier. "While we should be looking to staff more firefighters, and have more water bombers and pilots and all of our incredible support staff that we need more of, we're just going the other direction at the moment." Freedman said the union has been unable to confirm the exact number of crews currently operating; last year, there were 143. "To be honest, it weighs on you," Freedman said. "There's a lot of fatigue in this job. And as summers go on and fires get more intense with the heat, so too does our fatigue. And then there's poor decision-making because people just don't get breaks." Freedman, for example, first deployed into the region to fight wildfires in late April. When he spoke to CBC News on Wednesday, he'd just completed his third 19-day rotation (with two days off between stints). The province is also short water bomber pilots. Freedman said three Ontario water bombers are grounded at any one time due to a lack of pilots. "We go to a fire, it's way too big for one crew or even two crews to handle," he said. "There's no water bombers available because they're either busy or we don't have enough of them, and so everyone's kind of pushing not just out of their comfort zone, but out of their traditional training. "As resources dwindle, you just kind of start getting into that mindset of like, 'OK, well, we have to figure out a way to make this work.' And the more we do that, the more we kind of push those limits, especially with the lack of experience that we have — that's when mistakes start happening." Freedman said the current budget for Ontario's wildfire program is $130 million. "It might sound like a lot of money to folks, but to be honest, in a program with this many aircraft and personnel ... that covers a wildland fire region double the size of France, $130 million just keeps the lights on," he said. "To put it in perspective, [Premier] Doug Ford spent $103 million on commercials last year. We really need to start thinking about proactively funding the program so that we can buy things before we need them, whether that's aircraft or even paying our pilots more so that we can actually fly the water bombers we own, much less buy new ones. "We really need to start thinking about proactively funding the program so that we can buy things before we need them, whether that's aircraft or even paying our pilots more so that we can actually fly the water bombers we own, much less buy new ones." Freedman said the union would like to see the budget boosted to $300 million, adding the program is usually over budget, with between $200 million and $250 million in spending. That, he said, is all reactionary spending — not proactive spending. Contacted by CBC News for comment, a Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) spokesperson said in an email that the province has increased investments in the wildland fire management program by 92 per cent since 2018. The reclassification issue Another outstanding issue is the union's push to have wildland fireflighters reclassified as firefighters, instead of resource technicians, which would allow them to receive higher wages and better benefits. Last month, MNR spokesperson Emily McLaughlin said in an email that "the reclassification work has been completed and the government has been waiting for OPSEU to sign the agreement since early April. We are prepared to implement the reclassification changes immediately." However, Freedman said the situation is more complicated. "The way to put it is that the government found a very, very clever loophole so that they can essentially say, 'Look, we're reclassifying the firefighters, we did it, It's everything they wanted.' But it's absolutely not," he said. "All they've done is rebranded our job title and given us, I think it's like a $3-an-hour raise. And people can't make a career in this job with a with a $3-an-hour raise given how many issues we have." MPP raises crew leader 'safety issue' Thunder Bay-Superior North NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois said the province has eliminated many of the full-time wildland firefighter jobs, instead hiring workers for the fire season. That, she said, means firefighters aren't able to get the experience needed to be crew leaders. "My very first conversation with a wildlife firefighter just shortly after I was elected, he said to me at the time, it takes five to seven years of experience to become a crew leader," Vaugeois said. "They don't have enough experienced crew leaders. "You'll have people, university students doing these jobs, or college students or whatever, young people, and they may have come back for two or three years," she said. "That's not enough to be a crew leader, but they are going to be pushed into those positions whether they're ready for them or not. And that's a very serious safety issue." Freedman said experience is important when fighting wildfires. "The average age [of firefighters], let's say these days, is like 21," he said. "There's a lot less critical thinking ability there. It's not that they're not brilliant young people, but there's a lot of lack of experience in life in terms of decision-making." Examples, Freedman said, include, "Not being aware of how trees fall necessarily, or which trees die from the top down and have huge chunks of material falling down around you." Vaugeois echoed calls to increase funding for the wildland firefighter program. "In some respects, it's priceless," she said. "We know that there is no limit to the budget for emergency firefighting. "So, for example, if they need to pay to bring people in from Mexico, or from Quebec or from some other place, the money will be there for that. What we're not seeing is the money invested in the actual people who are would be Ontario's firefighting team. "We're also not seeing it invested in the equipment that they need."
