Wildfire Update: Ground Crews Make Progress Thanks to Rainfall

Some much-needed rain fell across the northeast coast yesterday, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Both the Musgrave Harbour and Chance Harbour wildfires received close to 30 mm of rain, creating more favourable conditions for firefighters to get in and do the hard work on the ground. Crews are currently on-site and are expecting another long, productive day of suppression work.

Here’s where things stand as of this morning:

• The Musgrave Harbour wildfire is holding around 1,660 hectares, and remains about 2 km from the town. Crews are now focusing on the North and East sections, which are closest to the community.

• The Chance Harbour fire remains steady at about 1,820 hectares, with no further growth reported. Firefighters there are working along the South and Southeast sections, particularly near Jamestown and Winter Brook.

The two fires are roughly 100 kilometres apart, but are being managed in close coordination. According to the provincial government, “both Incident Management Teams are sharing air resources” to maximize effectiveness.

🚁 In terms of air support, things have ramped up:

“Two water bombers arrived in Gander this week from Quebec to assist in the efforts, bringing the total number of aircraft on the two fires to six water bombers, seven helicopters, and a bird dog aircraft from New Brunswick.”

Meanwhile, the Chance Harbour Resource Road remains closed so crews can safely continue their work.

And a reminder: the Provincial Fire Ban is still in effect. Please respect this and help reduce any new risk of ignition.