ST. JOHN, Netherlands –
The reopening of a highway in Newfoundland that was closed for days due to raging wildfires gave hope Tuesday that much-needed supplies will finally arrive in stranded communities along the island’s south coast.
Steve Crew, mayor of Hermitage-Sandyville, said in an interview that he hopes the Bay d’Espoir Highway will be open long enough for seven or eight trucks to deliver groceries to communities in his area on Newfoundland’s Connaigre Peninsula. The rural, wooded road is the only one connecting the region to the rest of the countryside, and its prolonged closure has meant that local shop shelves are becoming bare.
“Hopefully by dinner tonight we’ll be in better shape,” Crewe said Tuesday.
Authorities say wildfires in central Newfoundland were started July 24 by a lightning strike. On Tuesday afternoon, the provincial forestry department said the two largest fires had covered an area of more than 162 square kilometers. The flames were out of control.
The Bay d’Espoir highway has been plagued by intermittent closures since the fires began. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Fury told reporters Tuesday afternoon that the road “may not be passable for long.” A reopening would allow at least some desperately needed supplies to get through, Fury said, “hopefully for an extended period of time.” He said there is already one truck traveling to the area.
Cooke Aquaculture has several operations on the Connaigre Peninsula and the company said on Tuesday it was sending two of its vessels to the town of Fortune, on the Burin Peninsula, to pick up supplies and deliver them to isolated communities nearby. The ships will arrive in Fortune on Wednesday and deliver 75 pallets of food and supplies to Peninsula residents, the company said in a news release.
The news came after two other plans to distribute food to the stranded communities failed. On Sunday, the province came up with a plan to send a small ferry to the area to transport supplies and move stranded people. But the vessel broke down and officials said Monday evening that the boat had docked in the provincial capital of St. John’s.
There were also plans to send a flotilla of helicopters carrying food and supplies to the Connaigre area on Tuesday morning. But as much-needed rain fell in the fire area, smoky and windy conditions made it impossible for helicopters to make the trip, Crew said.
“Every time we organize something, something will stop it,” Crew said. He joked that he didn’t know what the people of the Conaigre Peninsula had done to deserve the series of misfortunes.
Lloyd Blake, mayor of Harbor Breton, located about 50 kilometers east of Hermitage-Sandiville, said in an interview Tuesday that his town also relied on helicopter deliveries. “People are still pretty good, they’re running out of essentials like milk, vegetables and fruit,” Blake said.
Harbor Breton hosted a Come Home Year event over the weekend, inviting all those who have moved away from the community to return home for a visit. Blake said about 100 people remained stranded in the city Tuesday morning after the weekend’s events.
Provincial authorities declared a state of emergency in the Connaissance Peninsula area on Saturday and in central Newfoundland towns near the fire, including Grand Falls-Windsor, located about 25 kilometers from the larger of the two fires.
Fury said Tuesday that some patients at Grand Falls-Windsor health care facilities, including long-term care residents, were evacuated as a precaution, but he said emergency services at the city’s hospital were still operating.
“I know this is a stressful time for the citizens of central Newfoundland,” Fury said. “Let me tell you that you have all the power at all levels of government in Canada helping and wanting to help get you through this difficult time.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 9, 2022.
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