Churchill Falls residents on edge over forest fire after town makes hasty evacuation
CBC
A mother and daughter from Churchill Falls say they are safe now, hundreds of kilometres away from their community after raging wildfires forced them from their home — but they are grateful for the help they've received.
On Wednesday night, forestry officials ordered the hasty evacuation of Churchill Falls, a company town that exists to keep Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro's generating station running.
Residents were asked to be out of the community by 8:15 p.m. AT, and were told to head to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, about 287 kilometres away. There is only one road connecting the towns.
Terry Griffin, who was working in the town, said he was able to hit the road quickly after getting an order — and then drove into a raging thunderstorm.
"It's crazy. And then we ran into this crazy storm coming through. That was nuts," he said.
"I've never seen nothing like it before. Chased out of town by a forest fire and I was almost thinking of going back, that's how bad the storm was."
Susan Chislett, who had arrived with her family at the designated check-in point at the local YMCA, said driving out the town she was born and raised in was "surreal."
"We're looking in the rear view mirror and we're looking and saying it's so dark back there and we have everything we need in the truck because we have us," she told CBC News, standing next to her daughter, Madison Chislett.
While she has seen fires before, she said it never come to an evacuation order before.
"We didn't really think it was a possibility, I guess, or we didn't want to think that it was a possibility until it actually hit home when people were saying 'this could be bad.'"
Chislett said throughout the week they had been getting messages about the fires but hadn't thought it would lead to an evacuation order.
"Basically it was a typical day in Churchill Falls until we'd seen a fire that we actually thought was somewhat put out, basically erupt again. And so we knew it was starting to burn again," said Chislett.
She said her husband came back from work and said he had seen the smoke.
"It was at that point we kind of just said 'OK, let's just sit and do what we've got to do.'"
As their role in health care continues to grow, nurse practitioners across Canada are looking to Alberta, where nurse practitioners recently formed their own union — but on P.E.I., the nurses' union that represents them says it's doing its job.
As the fallout over fallen buildings in Gore Park continues, Hamilton officials will be turning their attention to other properties.
Fire crews responded to a transport truck fire on the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit.
When the government touts that its auto insurance reforms might curb premiums by $400 come 2027, the ministers and premier don't readily mention what's to come in the three years leading up to that.
Who poses the greater threat to the free speech of Conservative MPs — the Speaker of the House of Commons or the leader of the Conservative Party?
As city council prepares to vote on a temporary shelter village for people experiencing homelessness in Thunder Bay, Ont., opposition is growing among the area's business community.
A Toronto centre for Black art is hosting an exhibition this weekend that exclusively features work by artists from across the African diaspora.
Click on the video player above on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. ET to watch the 2024 Vanier Cup.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
Some Canadian seniors say they're feeling abandoned by the Liberal government's latest inflation relief measure after learning they don't qualify for it.
WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.