![\"Text](\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Listen to this article<\/p>\n
Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n
Fire chiefs in Newfoundland and Labrador are calling for vigilance after having to respond to three separate brush fires on Friday.<\/p>\n
Two of those were in Conception Bay North, which saw devastating wildfires last summer that destroyed almost 200 structures throughout multiple communities, burned over 10,000 hectares and forced hundreds to evacuate for nearly a month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us it’s not really normal, not for this time of year,\u201d Upper Island Cove volunteer fire department Chief Harvey Mercer told CBC News on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just before 3 p.m. NT on Friday, Mercer’s department received a call about a brush fire in Bishop\u2019s Cove. Mercer said a resident\u2019s barrel fire got out of control due to high winds and made its way to the woods, burning over a hectare of land.<\/p>\n
Mercer said he had to call in extra support from the Spaniard\u2019s Bay and Harbour Grace fire departments due to low water supply in Bishop\u2019s Cove.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, three of us together we contained the fire and knocked it down. But it was a bad fire with all the wind yesterday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Shortly after, the Harbour Grace Volunteer Fire Brigade posted on social media that it responded to a separate brush fire on Kitchens Hill. Firefighters were cleared from the scene by 4 p.m.<\/p>\n
On the other side of Conception Bay, a grass fire was reported as briefly out of control in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s. Fire Chief Fred Hollett said sparks from a different barrel fire got picked up by the wind and set the dry grass ablaze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt spread very quickly,\u201d said Hollett. \u201cBut I’m happy to say that the homeowner and a neighbour got a garden hose going right fast and had it pretty well under control by the time we got there.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said an area of about 100 square metres was burned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s wildfires top of mind<\/p>\n
While the fire in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s wasn\u2019t too severe, Hollett said the event is a good reminder of how quickly fires can go out of control.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one wants a repeat of last year. It’s front and centre on certainly all the minds of the fire service right now,” he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cLet’s use this as a first warning flag now, that it’s important that we be vigilant and be cautious.”<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775950994_468_default.jpg\")
Portugal Cove-St.Philip’s fire Chief Fred Hollett says Friday’s brush fires should serve as a reminder to be vigilant and cautious ahead of the wildfire season. (CBC)<\/p>\n
Mercer said it doesn’t matter if the conditions are dry or wet, a small fire that isn’t contained or looked after can quickly get out of control.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we seen last year, a small fire can escalate into something big,” he said.<\/p>\n
Communities along the North Shore witnessed that first hand. An early season fire on May 7 in Adam’s Cove destroyed 12 homes. Multiple fires followed throughout the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With those fires top of mind, both Mercer and Hollett said there are steps people can take to contain their fires.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mercer recommends homeowners have fires in big, open areas with crushed stone on the ground while having a water source nearby.<\/p>\n
Hollett said owners should obtain a permit to burn natural brush and grass \u2014 and remember to follow the rules of that permit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFire is supposed to be small. Take your time,\u201d he said. \u201c[When] you’re trying to burn everything you got here in one big flash \u2026 that’s dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Download our\u00a0free CBC News app<\/a>\u00a0to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our\u00a0daily headlines newsletter here<\/a>. Click\u00a0here to visit our landing page<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-598007","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}