Wabush lifts state of emergency

An aerial shot of some of the destruction caused by the forest fires that burned outside Wabush for three weeks.

A state of emergency was formally lifted Monday for the western Labrador town of Wabush, which was plagued by forest fires and ensuing smoke for more than two weeks.

An evacuation alert for Wabush was lifted over the weekend.

Mayor Ron Barron said he was relieved to see the state of emergency lifted as well.

Barron said much of the fire area outside the mining town has been contained, although there are still hot spots in the De Mille Lake area.

Fires in the area broke out on June 23, and five days later forced a 48-hour evacuation of Wabush because of deteriorating air quality.

The fires have burned more than 270 square kilometres of land in the area.

"We have come through the biggest forest fire in the history of Labrador West stronger and more dedicated to our community," Barron said in a statement.

Meanwhile, another fire in central Labrador continued to burn through the weekend. Traffic was being escorted along part of the highway between Churchill Falls and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Last week, officials redirected two of the water bombers that had been assigned to the Wabush-area fires to the Gull Island area on the edge of the Churchill River. CBC