Wildfire on Newfoundland’s Bonavista Peninsula mapped as largest in the province

CITYnews halifax / By The Canadian Press

CHANCE HARBOUR, N.L. — Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture says a wildfire near Chance Harbour on the Bonavista Peninsula is now the largest in the province.

In a post on social media, the department says the size of the blaze is now mapped at 16.6 square kilometres, up from 15 square kilometres about a day earlier, although it notes this growth could have happened over time.

The department says firefighters continue to fight the blaze, and are using various equipment including water bombers and helicopters.

Two water bombers and a helicopter were briefly diverted to fight a new, smaller fire on Random Island on Saturday, but the aircraft have since been returned to the Chance Harbour blaze.

Provincial fire duty officer Wesley Morgan says the new fire, which is being called the Nine Island Pond fire, was estimated to be about two hectares in size and threatened mostly cabins.

Morgan said it wasn’t known if any structures were damaged in that fire but RCMP said in a social media post that they were evacuating cabins in the area and were asking the public to stay away.

There were five active fires in the province on Saturday, Morgan said, with the Chance Harbour fire and the new Nine Island Pond fire consuming most of the firefighting resources.

Morgan said some areas of the province saw rain on Saturday, but the Chance Harbour fire didn’t get any.

The province says a sprinkler system is being used on the south and southeast section of the Chance Harbour wildfire, closest to the communities of Jamestown and Winter Brook, and there has been no growth of the flames in that direction.

There are five active wildfires with two — Chance Harbour and Winokapu in Labrador — being classified as out-of-control, meaning the firefighting efforts are not fully able to contain the flames.

It has been a busy wildfire season for the province with 170 blazes so far this year, scorching an estimated 60 square kilometres of ground.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2025.

The Canadian Press