No significant growth of Chance Harbour wildfire on Wednesday
Three water bombers, helicopters and a change in the direction of the wind managed to keep the Chance Harbour wildfire away from two nearby communities on Wednesday, says Newfoundland and Labrador's fire duty officer.
Residents of Jamestown and Winter Brook, located on Newfoundland's Bonavista Peninsula, have been told to be prepared to evacuate quickly.
Fire duty officer Mark Lawlor said the 1,200 hectare fire continues to burn out of control but it has not grown in size as of Wednesday afternoon. The wind has turned easterly, clearing Jamestown and Winter Brook of smoke, he added.
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"Unfortunately, any visitors in Terra Nova National Park are getting a lot of smoke," he told CBC Radio's On the Go.
In a statement, the provincial government said the Lethbridge Fire Hall and Recreation Centre will be open for residents to get respite from poor air quality and heat.
"Residents on the Bonavista Peninsula extending as far as Clarenville may notice smoke from this wildfire while the winds continue to come from the north. Favourable winds are forecasted starting this evening through to the weekend which will assist with suppression efforts," it said.
Looking ahead to Thursday, Lawlor said it will be 32 degrees and windy, but the wind direction should take the fire further away from the communities.
"We are certainly expecting increased fire behaviour," he said.
Monitoring fire
The only other out of control fire in the province is the Winokapu fire burning in Labrador. Lawlor said the blaze is currently 15 kilometres south of the Trans-Labrador Highway.
The fire is being monitored and there hasn't been any significant growth. If it grows too close to the highway, Lawlor said resources will be deployed.
The five remaining wildfires burning throughout the province are either under control or being held.
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On Wednesday morning Lawlor said he didn't expect the fire to reach Jamestown and Winter Brook.
"If the temperature gets higher, the relative humidity gets lower, and the wind speed increases significantly, that prediction could fail and we could see the fire moving faster than we predicted," he told CBC News in a previous interview.
'A helpless feeling'
Courtney Russell is one of the people playing the waiting game in Winter Brook.
She said there was something eerie about looking out her window Wednesday morning, watching the haze drift through the air.
"All the smoke is kind of creeping back into our bay," said Russell.
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Russell and her family have their essentials packed away in a car in case they need to leave at a moment's notice, but she said waiting for the call to leave is gut-wrenching.
"My heart goes out to the crowd out in Pudding Cove.… There's been so many cabins lost already and there's cabins that are still at risk of being burned now," she said.
Residents of communities near Chance Harbour have been told to be prepared to leave home any moment. (Submitted by Patsy Humby)
"It's a devastating feeling. It's a helpless feeling. I would not wish this on anybody."
The tight-knit community is collectively holding its breath, and according to Russell they are putting a lot of faith in the water bombers and the firefighters steadily suppressing the flames.
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This article, written by Jenna Head, Maddie Ryan, was originally published for CBC News.