A statement released Saturday morning from Happy Valley-Goose Bay RCMP says the fires in the town and on the Canadian Forces Base are now under control and there is no risk of explosion.
The police say firefighters battled the blaze, which caused extensive damage to a number of commercial structures, throughout the night. No one was injured.
However, the RCMP says, due to structural instability, winds in the area and a number of hot spots, the following streets are still inaccessible:
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Halifax Street
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Toronto Street
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Winnipeg Street
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Ottawa Avenue
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London Street
“In the interest of public safety, home owners are strongly encouraged not to attend their properties at this time,” reads the statement.
“Residents are asked remain at least a kilometre away from the area, which can be described as from the end of the airport to the docks. “
A fire broke out in a former airport hangar in Happy Valley-Goose Bay late Friday, which sparked a number of explosions as well as an evacuation and an official State of Emergency.
Mayor George Andrews says the state of emergency will be reevaluated following a meeting with the fire chief.
“Early this morning our firefighters stood down a little,” Andrews told CBC News on Saturday. “We have a crew here who are battling some hotspots.”
“This looks to me to be a predominantly clean up site,” Andrews said, regarding the damage caused by the fire. “Now, we will be probably on-site here for a number of days because of just the sheer heat and things within that old hanger. If you can imagine, this is a huge old military aircraft hanger.”
“The fire started in a couple of buildings that were on the back of an old hanger that sits at the airfield on the north side,” said Andrews. “It caused the the hanger that was next door to be engulfed… That hanger is not there anymore.”
Andrews said it’s too early to determine what caused the fire.
“This was a huge, huge effort on behalf of all our emergency services which were engaged and our crews fought very hot, very uncomfortable conditions through the night,” he said.
More to come.
