Smoke from a wildfire is shown in Labrador City, N.L., on July 12, 2024.Janelle Nippard/The Canadian Press
A northern Quebec town is facing a possible evacuation order as a forest fire rages nearby on the other side of the provincial boundary with Newfoundland and Labrador.
The municipality of Fermont, Que., has issued a pre-alert warning to residents to stay vigilant and prepare for a possible evacuation after thousands of people fled Labrador City on Friday night, just 30 kilometers away from the Quebec town.
SOPFEU, Quebec’s forest fire protection agency, told the Canadian Press its firefighters had already been fighting two fires around the Fermont area on the Quebec side, with one contained and the other out of control.
The agency says a change in winds has now pushed a fire in Labrador toward Quebec.
Spokesperson Stéphane Caron says the agency has deployed a force of firefighting aircraft including two water bombers and one helicopter to join firefighters on the other side of the boundary.
The municipality of Fermont says Minerai de Fer Québec, a mining company based in the Lake Bloom area about 15 kilometres from Fermont, evacuated its workers from the area, while another mine belonging to ArcelorMittal has begun evacuating some of its staff.
The fire, which had been burning west of Labrador City, was under control earlier this week, but a sudden change it conditions caused it to explode into “an extremely aggressive inferno,” officials said.
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey says the blaze grew Friday from six square kilometres to about 100 square kilometres, advancing by 21 kilometres in just four hours.
He says the fire is now about six kilometres away from the community of Labrador City, and about one kilometres from the town’s landfill.
Labrador City is home to about 7,450 people, and they were ordered to leave on Friday night and make the six-hour drive east to Happy Valley-Goose Bay along a remote, two-lane highway.
The only stop along the way to get gas is in Churchill Falls, in central Labrador, which was temporarily evacuated last month because of another wildfire.
Forestry official Jamie Chippett says wildfire have already devoured twice as much land in Newfoundland and Labrador this summer than in typical years.