Bristol's Hope forest fire out while one in Terra Nova continues to burn

A forest fire that threatened homes in Bristol's Hope, near Harbour Grace in Conception Bay North, is out.

Fire crews remain on scene putting out a number of hot spots, but the evacuation order has been lifted, according to a release sent by the Harbour Grace RCMP.

The road into Bristol's Hope has been reopened, but only to residents returning to their homes, the release said.

Another fire, which has been burning near Terra Nova since 4 p.m. has levelled two cabins, according to Eric Young, provincial duty officer for the Department of Fisheries and Land Resources. He said about 20 per cent of the fire is contained.

Young said the wind is blowing the flames north away from the community. The fire has covered about 50 hectares of black spruce and bog andis about 12 kilometres from the town of Terra Nova.

"Today we were fortunate. The winds were southerly and took it in a northerly direction, away from the community," he said.

And while two cabins were lost in the fire, crews were able to set up sprinklers near other cabins to help protect them.

"We put in our own pumping system and that, and we find a source of water and we erect a sprinkler system," he said. "It's usually erected on top of the cabin or around the structure and we hook up the pumps and start pumping water and we wet the perimeter and the structure down."

Protection from embers

Embers from even distant fires can be a problem, he said.

"They can travel hundreds of metres, embers," he said. "That's what we're concerned with. So even though the fire maybe a fair distance away from the structures, the embers can carry in the wind and catch the structure on fire."

Crews have been pulled off the Terra Nova fire for the night, said Young.

"We have a policy where we don't fight fires overnight due to the danger," he said.

"Most fires do die down and that in the evening as it gets cooler as it is this evening, as the wind dies down. Tomorrow morning we'll go in early in the morning and set up our pumps again and fly the area to make sure where everything is safe for our guys and they'll go in and start addressing the hot spots that are there."

Young said he's confident the fire will be brought under control.

"Tomorrow, that 20 per cent will change to 30, 40 and eventually we'll get it up to 100 per cent where we're confident we have the full boundary enclosed."