A mayor near Newfoundland and Labrador’s capital city says his town of about 27,000 people is about to run out of water.

Darrin Bent says a pipe carrying water to Conception Bay South has broken and the town’s water reserves are draining quickly.

The municipality on the outskirts of St. John’s declared a state of emergency and asked all businesses to close.

It also asked residents not to use water for anything other than emergencies.

Bent says neighbouring towns have water tankers ready in case water is needed to put out a fire in Conception Bay South.

He says it’s not clear when the broken pipe will be fixed, adding that the situation is an added stress for a community that has already spent part of the summer on evacuation alert because of a wildfire.

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