LABRADOR CITY, N.L. — Forestry officials ordered residents to leave Labrador City on Friday evening as a nearby wildfire crept closer to the town.
In a video posted to social media, Mayor Belinda Adams urged residents to pack up their essentials and leave as quickly as they could. The town is asking people to head east to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, which is a six-hour drive along a remote, two-lane highway.
“We’re getting reports of people pulling trailers and Ski-Doos and quads,” Adams said. “We need you to take the essentials only. There’s a lot of people that are going to be on that highway heading out.”
Labrador City is home to about 7,450 people. The out-of-control wildfire burning roughly 30 kilometres west of the town, near Labrador’s border with Quebec, encompasses an area of approximately 6.6 square kilometres, according to the province’s online fire dashboard.
The order to evacuate Friday was made after officials observed "extreme fire behaviour" all day, Newfoundland and Labrador's Forestry Department said in a news release.
"The fire has the potential to grow significantly closer to Labrador West over the next 24 to 48 hours," the release said. Labrador West includes Labrador City and the neighbouring community of Wabush.
On X, Premier Andrew Furey asked people in Wabush to keep an eye on conditions because they can change quickly.
"Residents of Wabush are asked to remain vigilant," he wrote. "Check on your family, friends and neighbours, and please stay safe."
The town of Wabush posted a potential evacuation alert to its social media pages on Friday evening.
Labrador City is the second Labrador community to be evacuated because of forest fires in as many months; residents of Churchill Falls were ordered to leave their homes on June 19.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press
