Raging forest fires in Canada cut off access to towns as helicopters deliver food

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Two massive forest fires raging for two weeks have cut off towns and thousands of people in the province of Newfoundland as officials prayed on Tuesday for rain and diminishing winds.

States of emergency are in effect in some areas as helicopters airlifted in food and supplies. Newfoundland is a huge 407-square-kilometer (157-square-mile) island off Canada's east coast.

The fire in the area of Paradise Lake grew to 96 square kilometers, almost doubling in size from Monday and the other blaze near the Grand Falls-Windsor area increased 50%.

Populated areas are cut off as the fires covered both sides of the highway and the Paradise Lake fire is so large that firefighters cannot get to the conflagration. Water bombers are being used to battle the blaze.

"We really got to get the crews on that fire soon," provincial forest fire duty officer Jeff Motty told CBC News on Tuesday. "If we can get a lot of water bomber activity on that, what happens then is we're able to get on an edge or a plank of that fire's perimeter, where it's safe to do so with crews, and we can start putting out hose lines out and start containing that fire.”

Environment Canada said the weather will play a large role in what happens next. There is rain in the forecast for Tuesday but a lot depends on how much falls to help keep the blazes from spreading.

The blazes cover 161 square kilometers and towns in the southern area are isolated as there is only one highway connecting the area to the rest of the province and it is closed due to the fires.

A ferry was supposed to help bring in supplies to coastal areas but it broke down.