The Deputy Forest Minister says the primary issue at the White Rock Lake fire is pine beetle-infested trees.

Rick Manwaring made that comment when asked by NL News if fuel loads in the forest are driving some of the extreme fire conditions.

“One of the reasons for the extreme fire behaviour, in addition to the extreme dry conditions we have, is things like mountain pine beetle. Stands that get infected by those forest insects on a large scale,” Manwaring says. “And that type of fuel… is the primary issue that we’re dealing with out there.”

The fire levelled the majority of Monte Lake and Paxton Valley on Thursday, as the fire moved an estimated 18 kilometres in eight hours during gusting winds.

Fire activity has calmed down at the White Rock blaze in recent days, with slightly cooler with and some rain, but hot and dry weather is expected to pick up this week. With that, crews have been working to build fire guards and douse some of the hot spots on the blaze, now mostly on the eastern edge of the fire.

The blaze that started on July 13 south of Westwold is now more than 55,600 hectares in size, or more than 556 square kilometres.