Fire and emergency crews are on scene of what they’re calling “quite a large forest fire” in the Sugarloaf Road area of St. John’s this afternoon.
St. John’s Regional Fire Department acting platoon chief Scott Tilley said they received multiple calls shortly before 2 p.m. and sent a crew down from Kent’s Pond Station to investigate when they found the forest fire in progress.
The fire has burned about a couple of hectares so far, but Tilley said crews “are getting ahead of this fire as we speak”.
There are no injuries reported and no homes damaged, though the fire did burn directly around an entire house. Tilley said they “were lucky to get ahead of it.”
Some people living in the area were put on standby to evacuate if necessary.
“It’s quite a large fire and the heavy wind condition today does make it pretty challenging for us,” said Tilley.
“Our biggest fear is the wind today,” he said.
Some power lines in the nearby woods burned and Newfoundland Power crews were on scene cutting power to the immediate area.
Water supply is also a challenge in the area. A tanker was deployed, as well as manpower from multiple fire stations, to help keep the fire under control.
Government forestry department and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary were also on scene and are investigating the cause of the fire which is still unknown.
Around 4 p.m. on Saturday crews were making use of a fire break created by a farmer who had plowed up part of a field. Tilley said he is confident they are getting ahead of the fire.
In the meantime firefighters battled five brushfires throughout the day, a Sunday morning from the St. John's Regional Fire Department said.
