N.L. restricts ATV use as fires rage, force evacuations

Conception Bay South, N.L. Mayor Darrin Bent shares what resources are available to the 10,000 residents that are on evacuation alert.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial government is taking steps to restrict the use of ATVs and off-road vehicles, as wildfires overwhelm resources available to firefighters across the province.

Premier John Hogan announced restrictions Wednesday morning, which are set to last until Sunday. He said anyone who uses an off-road vehicle on “forested land” will be subject to penalties.

“As of right now, we simply cannot afford any further risks, given the number of out-of-control wildfires we have,” he said.

“We don’t have evidence that any of these have been caused by off-road vehicles, but out of an extreme abundance of caution and given, as I said, the finite resources we have in this province and this country, we will be issuing an order.”

The announcement followed days of consideration about further restrictions, similar to those imposed in other Atlantic provinces as wildfires burn across the country.

Those restrictions sparked controversy — something Hogan expects will come to his province as well.

“When you’re in this position, you have to make decisions that you think are right. There’s always going tom be some push back, probably, on every decision you make,” he said. “I listen you all sides of every story before I make a decision and weigh out the pros and cons.”

Unprecedented wildfire season in N.L.

Officials have acknowledged that Newfoundland and Labrador’s wildfire season has been unprecedented. Drought conditions are accelerating the spread of flames in multiple areas.

Roughly 2,000 people remain forced from their homes on Wednesday, between two out-of-control wildfires on the Avalon Peninsula.

A fire burning in the Paddy’s Pond area, merely 250 metres from the Trans-Canada Highway, has brought evacuation readiness alerts to another 20,000 people in the greater St. John’s area.

Given the number of wildfires burning across the country, and the increased demand placed on waterbombers and other air assets, officials in Newfoundland are going to the private market.

They’ve made deals to bring in a pair of Black Hawk helicopters from a source in Utah, a Sikorsky S92 Raptor from Canadian Helicopters, and a few other “high capacity” helicopters from other private sources.

The total cost for those deals will be above $8 million, Hogan said.

“The approach we’re taking right now is to get as many assets here as we can,” Hogan said.

“If we overpay and we don’t need them because the fires are out, I’ll take that all day long.”

Hogan said he spoke with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday night, who assured him the federal government would support however possible.

“As we’ve discussed they don’t have water bombers, they don’t have assets that can help fire suppression, but they have and they will continue to provide more support for logistics.”