Forest fire near Grates Cove decreasing in size, despite evacuation of ground crews

Changing winds are forcing ground crews away from aforest fire that's beenburning near Grates Cove and Daniel's Cove on the Avalon Peninsula since Friday afternoon, but officials say size the blaze is decreasing.

JeffMotty, a forest protection officer with the Department of Fisheries and Land Resources, told CBCNews that personnel have been back on the ground since 8 a.m. Saturday.

Motty said as of shortly before 3 p.m., the fire had decreased in size and is estimated to be three kilometres long and 0.6 kilometres wide. He said that makes the fire about 70 hectares smaller than on Friday nightand decreases the risk of potential property damage.

A change in wind direction, strong gusts andaggressive flare-ups forced an evacuation of crews on the ground,Mottysaid, leaving two CL-415 water bombers and a helicopter to fight the fire from the air.

Motty said while the fire was still technically "out of control," it is manageable and was50 per cent contained on Saturday afternoon.

He said there is still a lot of smoke and some active flame.

Residents in the cabin development area near Daniel's Cove wereadvised to evacuate Friday night.

The RCMP were also brought in Saturday afternoon to assist in controlling traffic in the area.

Forestry officials advise the public to avoid the area of the fire for their own safety and thesafety of fire crews.

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