Wildfires and a closed highway didn't stop a Newfoundland town's Come Home Year party
Wildfires shut down the highway into town, the band had to be boated in and some guests made an exit on a fishing vessel, but the Newfoundland town of Harbour Breton hosted its Come Home Year party last weekend anyway.
Jordan Tibbo, who sits on the town's recreation committee, said Wednesday it was a night for the record books.
"Despite the road being cut off, the turnout was absolutely amazing," Tibbo said in an interview, noting there were at least 600 people out for the show. Because of the pandemic, it was the town's first live concert since 2019, he added. "I think people were ready to go!"
Harbour Breton is a community of about 1,600 people on Newfoundland's south coast, at the edge of the island's Connaigre Peninsula. The town hosted Come Home Year celebrations last week, including a concert featuring traditional Newfoundland band The Navigators planned for Saturday night.
The Come Home Year event invited all those who had moved away from the town over the years to return for a visit. The events are common in the province where so many young people move away for work.
But last Thursday, as growing wildfires raged nearby, provincial officials shut down the only highway leading into Harbour Breton and the Connaigre Peninsula. The road didn't open again until Tuesday morning. It remained open Wednesday as the two fires burning west of the highway grew to cover more than 200 square kilometres.
Tibbo said the road closure meant everyone already back in Harbour Breton for Come Home Year was stuck. And everyone who hadn't yet arrived had to find some other way to get there -- including the headlining band.
Enter a generous local resident with a Zodiac boat.
Arthur O'Brien, The Navigators' lead singer, guitar and fiddle player, said he and the band didn't hesitate to accept a ride on the Zodiac. They drove down the neighbouring Burin Peninsula on Saturday afternoon where the makeshift ferry awaited. After a smooth, hour-long ride, they pulled up to Harbour Breton in time for the sound check, O'Brien said an interview.
The show, he said, was great. "For a road that was closed down in a community that not everybody was able to get to, it was near full capacity," O'Brien said. "I was quite shocked."
On Sunday morning, the band piled back into the Zodiac and returned to the Burin Peninsula. The sea wasn't quite as calm that day. "We did some pretty good pounding," O'Brien said. "One of us got sick, but I'm not saying who."
Tibbo played in two bands that opened for The Navigators on Saturday night. One, called Top Shelf, is entirely local, he said. The other, Portside, has members from out of town. They managed to drive in before the road closed on Thursday, and they sped out of town the moment it reopened, Tibbo said.
Not wanting to wait on the highway opening, the band members' wives left town early Tuesday aboard a fishing boat, he added.
Like many of the cut-off communities on the Connaigre Peninsula, Harbour Breton began to run out of groceries as the closure dragged on. "The joke was that they were running out of Blue Star," O'Brien said, referring to a popular Newfoundland beer.
He said there were several residents taking people in and out of town aboard their boats.
Officials said Wednesday morning that the two fires burning west of the Bay d'Espoir Highway covered a total area of nearly 230 square kilometres. Jeff Motty, the province's forest fire duty officer, said a day of rain Tuesday helped the situation, and water bombers were back in the air on Wednesday trying to douse the flames.
The Department of Forestry announced the highway would remain open on Wednesday, and conditions would be reassessed Thursday morning. Parts of central and southern Newfoundland remained in a state of emergency that was first declared on the weekend due largely to smoke and air quality concerns.
Late Wednesday, forestry officials advised residents of Grand Falls-Windsor, Bishop's Falls and Botwood that smoke would likely increase early Thursday morning and into Friday, and they urged people to stay indoors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2022.
Correction
This is a corrected story. A previous version misspelled the last name of forest fire duty officer Jeff Motty.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.