Crews battling Churchill Falls fire with water bombers, helicopters 

Residents of Churchill Falls are watching and waiting as water bombers and helicopters continue to battle a fire located one kilometre from the town that houses employees for a large Hydroelectric Station.

The fire started in the evening of Wednesday, May 28. The source of the fire is not confirmed by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador at this time. 

Two of the province’s water bombers fought the fire Wednesday until it became too dark; they were set to resume early Thursday morning. The fire affected power lines to Labrador West Thursday night with power restored to the two communities of Labrador City and Wabush around 9:30 p.m.

At 11:40 p.m., the province said the fire was moving away from the Churchill Falls. Power went out in Churchill Falls for the estimated 800 residents late into the evening. 

Late Wednesday night, Naomi Tobin sat in the dark at her table, watching the smoke in the distance. Tobin has lived in Churchill Falls for 11 years. 

“Because of the winds and the way the wind is going, everybody seems to be pretty calm,” Tobin told The Independent. “Calm and hopeful and all of us are relaxed now that the water bombers were here.”

The family was thinking about the potential for fires after a bushfire burned briefly in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Tuesday, Tobin said. 

Then, on Wednesday evening, Tobin was cooking supper when her kids told her that there was a fire around the town. Tobin said she then checked the distance between the fire and her home, then returned home and prepared in the event the family needed to evacuate. 

“Everybody at our house is pretty much ready for anything to change, especially this being two kilometers from the house,” Tobin said. “Last year, the wind changed so quickly, and it was like seven kilometers away, and we had to evacuate. So this is so close.”

Early Thursday morning Churchill Falls resident Robert Dawe posted videos on social media that appear to show several spots where fires had been burning but are now smouldering. 

The community was evacuated in the summer of 2024 due to a fire seven kilometres away, six kilometers farther from town than the current fire but significantly larger. Tobin said last year’s experience being evacuated from their home and community helped prepare her family Wednesday night in case of an evacuation order. 

Tobin expects all summer the family and many others will be wishing for rain, given how dry the land has been and seeing a fire so early in the fire season this year, she said. 

“May already is too soon,” she said. “It is a very interesting feeling to know that in an instant, your life is changing that quickly.”

No matter what happens, Tobin holds onto hope for the future given the outpouring of support during the evacuation from Churchill Falls to Happy Valley-Goose Bay last summer. 

“During the aftermath, there’s so many people there to help you while you’re going through it,” Tobin said. “That was really heartwarming, so that’s also to put us at ease, to know that no matter where we go, if anything were to happen from here to the next day, that people would know that they’d be okay.”

Tobin said talking about the fire among her family helped them feel better, and recommends anyone else feeling the mental strain consider talking to someone. 

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador did not immediately respond to a request Thursday morning for updates on the fires. Provincial and national hotline resources are available for anyone in need of help: 

811 – Call if mental health crisis, in need of mental health support, and more.
Lifewise Warm Line: 1-855-753-2560 – Call for peer support
Crisis Text Line for Adults: text WELLNESS to 741741. 
Crisis Text Line for Youth: text HOME to 686868
Seniors: Call Seniors NL at 1-800-563-5599 for information or just to talk. 
Doorways Walk-in Clinics and more: https://nl.bridgethegapp.ca/