CITYnews Halifax: Devastating 2025 N.L. wildfire was suspicious and police are appealing for witnesses

CITYnews Halifax: By Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press

1. JOHN’S — RCMP say they are eager to speak with anyone who knows anything about a 2025 wildfire in northeastern Newfoundland that destroyed dozens of homes and left many people with nothing.

Adam Palmer, the Mounties’ officer in charge of investigative support services in Newfoundland and Labrador, says the fire is considered suspicious, and the force’s major crimes unit is leading the investigation.

He told reporters in St. John’s, N.L., the team has investigated and cleared a number of people, but no arrests have been made and the force has not yet confirmed whether arson was involved.

Palmer said investigators believe there may be people — even witnesses — with key information who haven’t yet spoken to police, and he urged them to come forward.

A series of wildfires erupted in eastern Newfoundland last year, the largest of which ignited on Aug. 3, 2025, and destroyed nearly 200 structures in an area known as Conception Bay North.

Officials said last month that the provincial government was still providing assistance to 48 households affected by the fire, at a cost of about $51,000 a month.

“We know our communities are eager for a clear and complete resolution and quite frankly they deserve it,” Palmer said, adding that he understood it would likely be frustrating for affected residents to hear police had not yet determined who or what started the fire.

Palmer couldn’t say if and when the case might be resolved, but he insisted the investigation was not stalled.

“The team is doing a great job of moving and advancing that investigation,” he said. “But again, that request for witnesses to come forward is really what we need: people to go on record.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2026.

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press