Fire crews and water bombers have been working all night trying to bring a forest fire near Happy Valley-Goose Bay under control.

Mayor Leo Abbass says there is no threat to residential areas because the fire appears to be moving away from the community.

“The winds have died down considerably. Yesterday we still had high winds and even last night the winds were still high but I think the biggest part was that the temperature dropped considerably,” he said Sunday.

“Friday afternoon we were looking at temperatures around the 35 degree mark and then yesterday it cooled off here considerably. I was told here last night temperatures went down to three degrees.”

The fire flared up around midnight Friday and then again early Saturday morning but continued to move away from residential areas all day Saturday.

The fire that started Friday has now spread beyond the boundaries of the Canadian Forces base where it began and was reported to have covered about 700 hectares of wooded area yesterday.

Abbass says the fire is still listed as out of control, but it not advancing as quickly as it was on Friday.

He said there is still no word on how the fire started. On Friday, Heavy, black and grey smoke quickly spread across the community.

Officials evacuated an area called the north side, a mainly industrial part of the town. Roads were blocked in the area.

The highway to North West River was also declared off limits for a time, resulting in long traffic lineups.

That road reopened by early Friday evening and all evacuation orders have been lifted.