Canadian province declares emergency amid worst wildfires in over 50 years

Officials in Canada’s easternmost province have issued a state of emergency as crews battle the worst wildfires the region has experienced in more than half a century.

Sprawling blazes have consumed thousands of hectares of forest in Newfoundland and Labrador over the last two weeks and remain out of control.

“Over the last 36 hours, things have changed,” Premier Andrew Furey told reporters on Sunday. “We were predicting that we could manage this. However with the wind change, we are afraid that there will be significant smoke impact … This is a dynamic, evolving situation as all fires are, but we can’t wait for the last minute – we have to act now.”

Furey said his government issued the state of emergency “not to create panic” but to ensure the province was able to better manage the quickly changing situation.

Fires have been burning for close to two weeks in central Newfoundland, aided by strong winds. The Paradise Lake fire is estimated to be more than 6,500 hectares (16,062 acres) and the Bay d’Espoir fire is more than 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres).

Large wildfires are relatively rare in the Atlantic province. But a summer of dry, intense heat has left its forests vulnerable to immense and fast-moving blazes.

Craig Coady, department of natural resources incident commander, told reporters that crews had witnessed “extreme fire behaviour” in recent days that worried officials.

“We expect to see that continue for today and possibly for the next few days. This is due to the high winds and low humidity.”

Coady said heavy smoke was complicating efforts at combating the blazes.

“If the [water] bombers can’t see ahead of the fire and it’s too smoky, it’s not safe for them to operate,” he said, adding that poor air quality was also the largest problem for residents nearby.

The province has not yet ordered any evacuations, but officials have said they are prepared to order residents to leave any communities at risk. Canadian military personnel would be deployed to help with evacuation efforts, the federal emergency preparedness minister, Bill Blair, tweeted Sunday.

The province also expanded its outdoor fire ban, which now prohibits the setting of fires on or within 300 metres of forestland. The move is necessary to help reduce the likelihood new fires are created by accident or through negligence.

“Last night I saw two people throwing cigarette butts and I thought that was absolutely crazy,” Derrick Bragg, fisheries, forestry and agriculture minister, told reporters. “That is reckless and we do not need it.”