Wildfire on Newfoundland’s Bonavista Peninsula destroys unknown number of cabins

CHANCE HARBOUR – A wildfire near Chance Harbour on the Bonavista Peninsula has destroyed an unknown number of cabins in the area, says Newfoundland and Labrador’s forest fire duty officer. 

Mark Lawlor said the fire began Monday in a wooded area near Jamestown, N.L., and is estimated to be about 12.5 square kilometres in size.

“However, I’m sure it’s grown a bit today, given that the fire is still burning,” Lawlor said in an interview Tuesday. 

While there has not been an evacuation order for the area, Lawlor said emergency officials have asked cabin owners to leave and stay away while firefighters tend to the blaze that remains out of control. 

“There are cabins throughout the area, adjacent to the fire and inside the fire area. But the closest community is Jamestown… and currently the town is in no danger,” Lawlor said.

The fire has been moving northeast, which is away from both Jamestown and the nearby community of Winterbrook, N.L., he added.

As of late Monday night, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture said the fire was about 5.5 kilometres away from Jamestown and 6.3 kilometres away from Winterbrook.

The department said fire behaviour analysts are predicting active fire movement for the next several days, but winds are expected to push the fire away from communities and toward the coast. 

In a statement Tuesday, the department said it closed an access route known as the Chance Harbour Resource Road due to the blaze. 

Lawlor said Tuesday’s high humidity levels are helping slow the fire’s growth.

“The weather today is actually having a positive impact. Although we have high temperatures and there’s wind, the relative humidity is up, and that’s subduing the fire behaviour,” Lawlor said, adding that the fire’s movement has been far less aggressive Tuesday compared to the day before. 

The fire duty officer says firefighters are attacking the blaze with help from helicopters and an air tanker dumping water. Lawlor also said firefighters from across the province are being mobilized to help fight this wildfire as needed. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2025. 

— By Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax.