Article content At mid-day Tuesday August 12, 2025, at least three waterbombers, a birddog airplane and a helicopter were fighting the Paddy’s Pond wildfire near St. John’s, Mount Pearl and Paradise. Here, onlookers stand on a nearby hill watching the efforts. Photo by Keith Gosse/The Telegram /Keith Gosse/The TelegramArticle contentArticle contentMore help on the wayArticle contentThe province is already availing of aircraft sent from other provinces, including water bombers from Quebec and Ontario and smaller air tanker planes provided by New Brunswick, along with bird dog planes.Article contentThe Canadian Armed Forces has also provided 80 wildland firefighters as part of its contribution to the province’s efforts to get the upper hand on its wildfire problems.Article contentMore air support is en route in the form of high-capacity helicopters, including one from Manitoba expected later on Tuesday, two Black Hawk choppers flying in from Utah and a Sikorsky being provided by Canadian Helicopters.Article contentSupport coming for volunteer firefightersArticle contentJustice and Public Safety Minister John Haggie addressed a specific group of volunteer firefighters who expressed frustration at having been moved away from the front line of the Kingston fire’s northern edge.Article contentArticle content“We know you have worked as hard as any people humanly can, and the reason you got moved was for your safety,” Haggie said.Article content“We want you to be able to go home at night, rather than become a casualty of this fire. You’ll live to fight another day. Some days, you take two steps forward and one step back. Hang in there and thank you from the bottom of my heart for the work you’ve done.”Article contentMany of the people battling the wildfires are volunteer firefighters, and the province announced they will be compensated for the tremendous efforts they have been making to try and protect the communities they live in.Article content“It’s an understatement to say there’s been long, stressful, scary, and difficult days away from your families,” said Hogan.Article content“Hot, dry weather and the pressure of doing everything that you can do to help your neighbors because, of course, in Newfoundland and Labrador, we know that volunteers always do what volunteers do, — and they do it for the right reasons and not for selfish reasons … We have to recognize the volunteer firefighters who possess the necessary training to aid in this wildfire relief and then the many other jobs that are required, including traffic control to after-burn cleanup to be that necessary strength for us. And I recognize this is not a normal situation and we can’t treat this as anywhere near normal.”Article contentHogan did not give any details on what the volunteer firefighter compensation would look like, but said those details will be made available in the coming days.Article content“I want all the volunteer firefighters to know we appreciate the sacrifice and the efforts and we will always be there for them,” said Hogan.Article content“You’ve had our backs, and we’ll have yours.”Article content
Evacuations ordered for parts of Paradise as state of emergency declared due to NL wildfires
