Route 70 through Small Point reopened following wildfire, RCMP says

The RCMP reopened Route 70 through the town of Small Point Thursday evening, following an out-of-control wildfire on Thursday afternoon.

Police said travel on Route 70 and nearby side roads should be limited to essential and local traffic only, as fire suppression efforts continue nearby.

According to the provincial wildfire dashboard, the Small Point fire is estimated to be 1.1 hectares in size.

Early Thursday evening, Small Point-Broad Cove-Blackhead-Adam's Cove Mayor Curtis Delaney said one shed was lost in the fire, but no homes were affected.

It marks Conception Bay North's second wildfire in two months.

A fire in May forced Adam's Cove residents to flee, and destroyed approximately a dozen homes and several structures.

Meanwhile, Broad Cove resident Wanda Crocker described the sudden wildfire on Thursday as intense.

"It's all over again," she said. "People are on edge."

Town councillor Susan Rose agreed. She said she feels sad that the town's residents are feeling this way.

"A lot of us won't be sleeping tonight, I can tell you that," Rose said.

Nine active wildfires

The Small Point fire was the second new wildfire that ignited in Newfoundland on Thursday, following an afternoon of scorching temperatures.

Provincial fire duty officer Wes Morgan said the other fire was near Lewisporte, a community in central Newfoundland.

"There was a fire in close proximity to the town, very close. Due to the close proximity to the homes and that, we did send two tankers out to the Lewisporte area and they've been actioning [the fire] over the last little while," Morgan told CBC News. 

According to the provincial wildfire dashboard, the Lewisporte fire was half of a hectare in size.

This marks nine active wildfires in the province.

Meanwhile, Morgan said the fire in Chance Harbour remains out of control but it has not grown in size, staying at 1,200 hectares.

Water bombers and helicopters are currently deployed alongside 12 firefighters on the ground, he said.

"Because of the aerial suppression on Wednesday, fire fighters were on the ground today," he said. "We were able to keep three tankers on the fire through the most of the day."

While Wednesday was a "good day" for fighting the out of control wildfire near Chance Harbour on Newfoundland's Bonavista Peninsula, provincial fire duty officer Mark Lawlor said Thursday's conditions would not be as favourable.

"We had the three water bombers and bird dog aircraft in the air and we held the fire on the eastern flank," Lawlor said in an interview with CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning on Thursday.

"We were trying to control that side of the fire from advancing towards the communities of Jamestown and Winter Brook and we were successful in that."

That fire is still considered out of control, and a high temperature creeping toward 30 C forecasted across the province Thursday afternoon won't help.

Three helicopters will be dedicated to the Bonavista Peninsula area. The Chance Harbour fire remains the main focus of resources, Lawlor said.

Residents no longer have to stand by for evacuation because southwest winds will blow the fire away from communities, but the hot day could change that.

"We are expecting increased fire behaviour with the high temperatures and the high winds," Lawlor said.

"We're going to see some more active fire."

Weather will dictate how quickly crews can tackle the fire from the ground, but Lawlor has no timeline on when that might happen.

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