The Mayor of Small Point-Adam’s Cove-Blackhead-Broad Cove says residents are anxious to get back in to the community as soon as it’s safe to do so, but it’s still a ways off.
Curtis Delaney says the main question he has been getting from residents is “when do you think we’re going to get back?”
Delaney says the town is taking its cue from the provincial department of forestry and several things need to happen before they can even begin to talk timelines.
The fire still needs to be brought under control, and damage assessments also need to take place.
Delaney says Newfoundland Power, for example, has been on the ground for a couple of days doing its assessments and some repair work.
He says once Newfoundland Power gets its issues straightened away, and the fire is brought under control, then they can start to talk about when residents can return. With such a big fire, there are a lot of things that need to come together to make a safe return possible.
Thirty-three structures are confirmed to have been lost in the town, and Delaney says the destruction is widespread – from one end of the town to the other.
“It’s one of those things that you’d see in a movie, it’s not something that you ever believe that you’re going to deal with in real life.”
