An out-of-control wildfire on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore jumped significantly in size Friday, reaching 1,700 hectares as residents forced to flee their homes anxiously awaited further news.
The Halifax Regional Municipality said the majority of its firefighters and personnel from the provincial Natural Resources Department would leave the scene — located about 100 kilometres east of the capital city — at dusk and resume firefighting efforts Saturday morning.
Some Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency personnel would stay on site to monitor conditions overnight, the municipality said in a news release.
The fire, which was reported Wednesday evening, reached 300 hectares Thursday and triggered a mandatory evacuation order for a 22-kilometre stretch of Mooseland Road, from civic address 4315 down to Highway 7.
Penny Smith, who lives in the area, said she watched as the fire escalated by the minute on Thursday. Around 8:50 p.m. AT, she received an alert on her phone to evacuate.
“It’s just devastating at this point,” she said Friday, adding that she and her husband took both their vehicles and fled to a motel in Dartmouth, N.S.
“I have no idea if I’ve even got a home and have nobody to contact.”
Too soon to say what caused fire
In an update Friday afternoon, officials said the cause of the fire was not yet known, but they noted lightning and human activities have been behind other wildfires in the province this season.
“There has been so much lightning lately that it could very well be lightning and not human caused. We really haven’t had a chance to dig into the cause of the fire yet,” Jim Rudderham, director of fleet and wildfire management for DNR, told reporters.
Rudderham said there were 25 DNR firefighters on the line Friday, seven incident management team personnel, and 31 Halifax Regional Municipality fire staff and volunteers fighting the fire.
He said four AT-802 water bombers, one Cessna Caravan Bird Dog, two DNR helicopters and two CL-415 water bombers from Newfoundland were working on the fire. He said a few pieces of heavy equipment were also being used to help open up roads for access and create better landing areas for DNR staff.
Crews from various local volunteer fire departments were also assisting.
“Every tool in the toolbox will help us,” said Rudderham.
The evacuation order was issued after the fire crossed Mooseland Road, forcing Nova Scotia Power to cut electricity to active lines in the area.
“Nova Scotia Power will have to assess that once they get in there safely, but that’s the reason,” Rudderham said.
“It is an active fire, and we are very hopeful and confident about where it’s going, but we have to be sure as well.”
The Halifax Regional Municipality estimated Thursday that 100 to 150 people were affected by the evacuation order.
On Friday evening, it said there were 21 households (40 people in total) registered with the Canadian Red Cross and two people were expected to stay at an evacuation centre overnight.
Officials said the residences in the area are a mix of full-time homes and cottages.
“We, at this point, do not have that number of homes that are full time versus summer, but our crews are out there monitoring who is in the area, and we have a list of that and tracking it if required,” Roy Hollett, acting chief of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency, told reporters Friday.
Jacob Prest, who lives in the area of the fire, said the scene “was pretty hectic.”
“Mostly with people … who don’t live here that have senior parents, responding quickly and coming out to get their parents,” he said.
Prest said firefighters came to his door to inform him of the evacuation order Thursday night. After talking with officials, Prest said he decided to stay as the fire appeared to be tracking in the opposite direction of his home.
“We have our go bags packed and ready if the wind changes,” he said Friday.
Melissa Charalambous lives in Ontario but owns a cottage that once belonged to her late father near Mooseland Road.
“I’m feeling extremely helpless being so far away, and just kind of sitting and watching to see if all my childhood memories … are just going to be gone overnight,” she said Friday.
When she heard the news that an evacuation order was issued, she quickly contacted a neighbour who was able to retrieve two irreplaceable items from her home: her father’s ashes and the logbooks he used when he worked at sea.
“[I’m] so relieved,” she said. “At the end of the day, at least I have those two things.”
Meantime, crews were keeping a close eye on the forecast, with rain expected Sunday.
While 4.6 millimetres of rain fell in the area overnight Thursday into Friday, Rudderham said the forest remained dangerously dry.
“The crews are making some good headway,” he said. “If they can make it through the day and continue with this progress [on Saturday] and then the rain comes Sunday, I’ll be very happy. It’s all up to the weather gods at this point.”
Crews fighting fires “live on the weather,” he said.
Bob Robichaud, warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada, said there could be a significant amount of precipitation in the area on Sunday — between 15 to 30 millimetres.
With wildfire season in full swing, Rudderham urged all rural Nova Scotians to be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
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