Location Taken: Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, CA
Time Taken: July 2012
There’s a very lovely flower that shows up all across Newfoundland, called Fireweed.
Well, I suppose not all across Newfoundland. But it was in a very large amount of the area I saw. That’s because it grows best in disturbed ground, such as on the sides of roads and especially where forest fires go through.
There are about 170 fires in Newfoundland and Labrador yearly, most of which are caused by human error rather than lightning (there are actually very few thunderstorms on Newfoundland, since the climate there is a bit too cold for the high temperature differential needed to get the clouds building). Most are rather tiny, and the forest fire fighters are well trained and do prescribed burns to clear out underbrush so the forests don’t go out of control.
Still, they do have some fires, and the fireweed loves it.
Actually, I saw a forest fire while I was in Newfoundland. It was a small one, but it was right off the Trans-Canada Highway right near Grand Falls-Windsor, one of the largest towns on the island. There were people parked on both sides of the road, watching the fire be fought.
The highlight was the plane. It’s one of those fire-fighting planes you see on the news, with the capacity and space to carry a large tank of water to dump on the fire. As we drove past, the plane came out of the east, swooped down, released a large splash of water, and then flew right over the road and our car! It was really nifty.
The fire was pretty much under control at that point, too.
I bet there will be a glorious crop of fireweed in that burned field next year.
