"Extreme behavior"

Forest fire out of control: 9000 people evacuated

A view of the out-of-control forest fire north-east of the city of Walbush

(Bild: AFP/Simon Contant)

The authorities have ordered the evacuation of around 9,000 people due to an out-of-control forest fire in north-eastern Canada. Residents of Labrador City and Wabush in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador have been asked to leave their homes due to "the extreme behavior of the fire".

Images on online networks showed long lines of cars outside gas stations while huge clouds of smoke darkened the sky. "When I saw the smoke, it was a shock," Stacy Hunt from Labrador City told public broadcaster CBC. "There's only one place we can go. We don't have many options," he added.

In the remote region north of the province of Québec, people actually have no choice: they have to drive over 500 kilometers east on the only road to get to safety.

Use of fire-fighting aircraft impossible
"We are observing extreme fire behavior. It is advancing about 50 meters per minute," said fire department spokesman Jeff Motty. Due to the intensity of the fire, the use of fire-fighting aircraft is impossible.

Belinda Adams, mayor of Labrador City, warned the last remaining residents to leave the city in a video published online on Saturday morning, as "the fire is still active". The last buses were expected to leave the city at noon.

The federal authorities had stated on Friday that the extent of the forest fires had been limited due to favorable weather conditions since the beginning of the summer. Now, however, the country is heading towards the main forest fire season. According to official figures, 1.5 million hectares of forest have burned so far this year, which is more in line with "the average".

Worst forest fire season last year
Last year, Canada experienced its worst forest fire season to date. More than 15 million hectares of land burned and eight firefighters lost their lives. A total of 230,000 people were evacuated in 2023.