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Fire crews are continuing to battle two wildfires that forced some residents of Labrador West to evacuate.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands said in a Monday night social media post that water bombers made “significant progress” on wildfires in the Walsh River area west of Labrador and the De Mille Lake area east of Wabush.
Around 120 residents were evacuated from their homes and cabins on Monday afternoon. The Town of Labrador City said that the evacuation order remains in place as fire suppression efforts continue.
The town declared a state of emergency on Monday.
Labrador City Mayor Jordan Brown said on Tuesday morning that the fire was between eight and nine kilometres from the town, and that the region is blanketed in a thick smoke.
“It’s on, I guess, the western side of Walsh River. So it’s close, but it’s in a, like, a bit of a remote-ish area and close to the highway,” Brown told Labrador Morning.
“I think anxieties are still a little high. But, you know, people are pretty confident in the crews that are showed up here to be dealing with this.”
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary warned of poor visibility on the Trans-Labrador Highway near the fire.
Québec’s ministry of Transport has closed 230 kilometres of Route 389 — which connects to the Trans-Labrador Highway — indefinitely due to the fire. It means drivers exiting Fermont, Que., will need to do so through Labrador City.
An incident management team will be on the ground in Labrador West on Tuesday to help fire crews, the department said in its social media post. The Town of Labrador City said forestry officials will reassess conditions on Tuesday evening.
The province’s online active wildfire dashboard wasn’t immediately updated on Tuesday morning, but listed the Walsh River at 200 hectares in size as of 6 p.m. NT Monday. The De Mille Lake fire was listed as five hectares as of 9 p.m. NT on Monday.
The dashboard lists 24 active wildfires as of 7 a.m. NT Tuesday — 23 across Labrador and one in central Newfoundland.
Brown said evacuated residents should register with the Canadian Red Cross, who have set up operations at Menihek High School.
He’s also telling residents to be prepared to leave should evacuation orders expand.
Environment Canada’s weather forecast for Labrador City shows a chance of showers late Tuesday afternoon with a high of 25 C. It also says smoke will be seen in the community, but an update regarding air quality hasn’t been made.
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