Thousands in St. John’s on evacuation notice as wildfires continue to spread

Scorching temperatures have led to over 700 wildfires burning nationwide. Evacuations are happening near St. John’s; and Halifax is on high alert.

An out-of-control wildfire has forced the evacuation of a handful of streets in the St. John’s area, putting thousands of people in the nearby region on high alert.

Residents of the Three Island Pond area in Paradise, N.L, were ordered from their homes around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, as flames from a nearby wildfire marched closer to their community.

Police on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Avalon Peninsula shut down the sections of the Trans-Canada Highway and Peacekeeper’s Way closest to the fire at Paddy’s Pond, clearing space for firefighters Tuesday. The provincial government has declared a regional state of emergency in the area.

The Paddy’s Pond fire, estimated at about 2.5 square kilometres in size, is burning at the doorstep of St. John’s. It’s bringing the province’s dramatic wildfire season uncomfortably close to the densely populated areas of the capital city and surrounding areas.

“I have two kids, so we’re taking sentimental stuff belonging to them, because we don’t know whether our house is going to be gone,” said Sherry Mahoney, one of thousands who’ve been told they need to be packed up and ready to go if an evacuation order is given.

“It’s very nerve-racking, very nerve-racking and very heartbreaking.”

One of her neighbours, Robert Hutchings, said Tuesday a few of the nearby families decided to leave the area before any formal order was given. He was packed and ready to go the same day.

“I got the documents, passports, medications, pet food, all that good stuff,” he said. “As the night progresses, you don’t get any sleep … it’s very anxious, very anxious indeed.”

The province is experiencing unseasonably warm and dry temperatures, seeing another record-breaking day Tuesday, with temperatures breaking 35 C in central parts of Newfoundland.

There hasn’t been any rain over much of Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula, where two of the most troublesome fires are located, in nearly two weeks.

“The situation that we face today is completely different than any situation that we faced in years,” N.L. Premier John Hogan said Tuesday afternoon, thanking firefighters during a wildfire update.

According to an update from the province’s forestry department on Tuesday night, firefighters were pulled out of work along the southern edge of the Paddy’s Pond fire “due to extreme fire behaviour.”

The province’s firefighting resources are being stretched thin — one of four working waterbombers was taken offline Tuesday with a hydraulic issue — and more help is arriving from across the continent.

Hogan said Tuesday that government officials were getting ready to bring in Black Hawk helicopters from Utah, which will be able to fight fires overnight — a tool the province doesn’t have with its regular fleet.

“It’s millions of dollars, but every penny is worth spending,” Hogan said.

As wildfires raged across the province over the past week, Hogan has moved to dramatically hike fines for violations of the provincial fire ban. Fines now start at $50,000 for an offense.

His government has also faced repeated questions on whether it would follow in the footsteps of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and further restrict activities in wooded areas.

He told reporters that officials were studying the evidence on Tuesday. However, a few municipalities in the province have independently announced they’re going to ban — and try to enforce a ban — on the use of off-road vehicles in wooded areas with wildfire risk so high.

That includes communities on the south coast of Newfoundland, like Harbour Breton, Hermitage, and the Bay D’Espoir region, which are now cut off from the rest of the province because of a wildfire along Route 360 — the only highway in and out of the south coast.

“This temporary measure is being put in place to help prevent potential fires during this period of high temperatures and extremely dry conditions,” said Steve Crewe, the mayor of the town of Hermitage-Sandyville, in a Facebook post. “We ask for everyone’s cooperation in keeping our communities safe.”