Mayor Provides Update - State of Emergency

North Side Evacuation LIFTED

Release Date: April 20, 2024

Happy Valley-Goose Bay Mayor George Andrews with the support of Council, has lifted a State of Emergency with respect to the fire on the North Side (Canadian Side) of the community and the Mayor has provided the following update at 9:12 am:

Update #4 April 20, 2024 09:12

Good morning,

First and foremost, the Town would like to acknowledge the historic and economic loss as a result of this fire.

As a result of a structure fire which started at approximately 7:10 pm Friday, April 19 and the nature of the incident, at 9:30 PM last evening the Town’s Emergency Plan was initiated and the Emergency Operations Centre was stood up. The EOC consists of Town staff, Council, and responding agencies. As of 9:12 AM Saturday April 20, 2024, Mayor Andrews is lifting the state of emergency. Impacted residents are permitted to return to their homes at this time. We implore the general public to remain away from the area while firefighters and RCMP remain on scene in the coming hours and possibly days.

Special mention to Town Fire Chief Brad Butler and Chief Tom Anthony of the Serco Fire department for their quick response and assessment and pulling back crews when the danger of explosions became apparent. Upon survey of the site this morning, there were several large pieces of debris located hundreds of feet from the hangar as a result of explosions. Their judgement and decisions were made in the interest of safety and well justified.

The Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay would like to acknowledge the engagement and support from the following organizations:

·        RCMP and Town’s Municipal Enforcement Officer

·        DND and Lt. Col Alleem Sajan

·        Provincial Government including Premier Furey, MHA Trimper, Fire and Emergency Services

·        HVGB GSAR

·        Members of the Ministerial Association, Salvation Army, Pentecost Church

·        Local and outside businesses who offered support and services

·        MP Yvonne Jones

·        Labrador City Fire Chief for their offer of assistance

·        CLYMCA

·        SPCA

·        Members of the EOC

·        And of course, the volunteer and career firefighters who responded to the call so quickly and effectively.

·        Apologies to anyone we may have missed.

Moving forward, we will be closing our EOC and this will be the last update. Any further updates will be issued via usual channels.