ST JOHN’S, NL – Its been an unusually long, hot, dry summer in Newfoundland this year, as in much of Atlantic Canada. That has meant a higher number and intensity of wild fire on the island. Newfoundland and the east coast of Canada in recent years is joining western Canada in having wild fire as a major threat to life and property.
The 2025 wild fire season started early in Conception Bay North and that’s where it ended with evacuations of a half dozen communities and the loss of nearly 200 homes. A fire that spread five kilometers along Route 70 at one point. Even the fact we have something called “fire season” is unusual in out geography and climate.
The Paddy’s Pond fire closed the Trans Canada Highway out of the capitol city and saw evacuation in the town of Paradise, CBS and community of Southlands. A western suburb of St John’s.
In central Newfoundland a wildfire along the Bay d’Espoir highway was a repeat of the fire in the same location in 2023. Another forced the evacuation of Musgrave Harbour on the north east coast.
I covered the fires for The Globe and Mail as best I could. Considering the very limited access to the fire zones and those fighting the fires. Only local geography knowledge and the help of some decent people allowed me to get the few photos I did.
Big Thank You to Chief Justin Parsons and the crew at the Victoria Volunteer Fire Department, Anthony Sutton, Jack Slade and Mike Parsons, who were kind enough and took the time to help myself and Globe and Mail reporter Sophia Coppolino in our coverage of the wildfires.
Unlike other jurisdictions, such as Alberta, British Columbia, California, Spain, and Greece, The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador severely restricts access to journalists in fire zones regardless of experience, training and preparedness.
Journalists do have a role to play in informing the public of news and conditions that effect their lives beyond simply pushing government press releases. As witnessed in this fire season, government communications are not always accurate nor provide the information that people want or need. The journalists job is deliver reality. Honest and complete news, information and stories for the benefit of the public without the spin or agenda of government communication desires.
Professional journalists are also a vector to fight false information and deliberate mis-information prevalent on social media.
Many people are beginning to realize weather and climate conditions are getting worse and next year is most like going to worse again. For the residents of Conception Bay North the question is now to rebuild or not and if they do rebuild what will it take to protect themselves from future fires.
Here are some links.
All photos © 2025 Greg Locke – www.greglocke.com
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