Wildfire evacuation order lifted near Newfoundland's largest city

People forced from their homes by a wildfire near Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest city were cleared to return home on Friday.

Provincial officials said in a press release that an evacuation order issued earlier in the week for parts of Paradise, N.L., a suburb of St. John’s, had ended effective immediately.

The release said, however, that residents were still under an evacuation alert, which required them to remain prepared to leave their homes again on a moment’s notice.

“Residents are advised that the Paddy’s Pond fire is still considered an active fire and fire crews continue to work at the scene,” said a post by the Town of Paradise on Facebook.

The wildfire near Paddy’s Pond broke out Monday, roughly 15 kilometres south of downtown St. John’s. It encompassed about three square kilometres as of Friday morning. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier John Hogan said the fire had not spread overnight. A few millimetres of rain were expected in St. John’s on Friday afternoon, he noted, and improving weather conditions could help firefighters tackle the fire.

“It’s not a lot of rain, but as everybody knows, we haven’t seen any rain for a long time,” Hogan told reporters in St. John’s. “We’re thankful for it.”

The Paddy’s Pond fire was one of four wildfires burning out of control on Friday, according to the province’s wildfire dashboard. The largest, near Kingston, N.L., measured more than 90 square kilometres and was spreading along the northwestern shore of Conception Bay, fewer than 50 kilometres away from the capital.

Officials announced Friday that the Kingston wildfire had destroyed a 60-student elementary school in Western Bay, N.L. They estimate up to 100 other homes and structures may have been lost in the fire.

In Nova Scotia, the County of Annapolis expanded an evacuation order in the West Dalhousie area on Thursday night after a lightning strike triggered an intense, out-of-control wildfire.

The wildfire is around three square kilometres in size and is one of 11 currently burning across the province.

Wildfires are also burning in New Brunswick, including an out-of-control blaze near Miramichi that has swelled to nearly 14 square kilometres in size since it was first detected on Aug. 6.

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