Wildfire that triggered town evacuation in central Labrador grows only slightly

CHURCHILL FALLS, N.L. — A wildfire that’s forced the evacuation of a central Labrador town continued to hold relatively steady as of Sunday.

The province’s forest fire duty officer Mark Lawlor says firefighters are continuing to attack the blaze near Churchill Falls, which grew only slightly overnight.

Lawlor says the approximately 15-square-kilometre fire gained a small amount of ground to the south, away from the town of Churchill Falls, and remains stable.

The town’s 500 residents were ordered to leave the community Wednesday due to the out-of-control blaze.

Lawlor says a secondary fire in the area near Twin Falls has been held, meaning firefighting efforts have kept the blaze from spreading beyond its existing perimeter.

Firefighting work continues today with the help of four amphibious waterbombers from the province and two from Ontario, as the two aircraft from Quebec that arrived Thursday and Friday have been recalled to fight ongoing wildfires in that province.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2024.