More than one hundred homes have been evacuated as an out of control wildfire near West Dalhousie in Annapolis County continues to burn Friday morning.
The fire broke out Wednesday on the north side of Long Lake, about 20 kilometres east of Annapolis Royal, N.S. The provincial Department of Natural Resources has said a lightning strike caused the fire.
On Friday morning, the province said the fire is estimated at 406 hectares or about four square kilometres — up from 300 hectares around noon Thursday.
An evacuation order was expanded on Thursday evening and now applies to:
The Dalhousie Road intersection to 484 Morse Rd. West Dalhousie Road from civic addresses 4530 to 6186. Thorn Road from civic addresses 2648 to 3408. Medicraft Lane with the civic addresses 122, 126 and 126 Unit 2.
The area within the broken yellow line shows the evacuation zone and the red line shows the perimeter of the Long Lake fire near West Dalhousie, N.S. Small yellow dots indicate civic addresses. (Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources)
In an interview with the CBC’s Information Morning Nova Scotia on Friday, Dustin Enslow, the deputy warden of the Municipality of the County of Annapolis, said 107 homes have been evacuated, affecting 215 people.
“Overall, the spirits are pretty high,” Enslow said of the evacuees. “They feel that we’re doing the best we can and we’re trying to support them the best we can.”
An alert issued at 7:42 p.m. AT Thursday told evacuees to leave or risk injury or loss of life. Evacuees should check in at the Bridgetown Fire Hall at 31 Bay Rd., and can call 1-833-806-1515 for more information.
Enslow said a comfort station has been set up at the fire hall, where people can stay during the day to charge their phones and get a bite to eat.
Evacuees are asked to check in at the Bridgetown Fire Hall at 31 Bay Rd. (Dan Jardine/CBC)
A news release from the Municipality of the County of Annapolis Thursday urged people to heed the evacuation notice.
“Don’t stay behind to help or because you don’t think this will affect you,” the release said. “You are putting the lives of our brave first responders and firefighters at risk when you do this. Precious supplies need to go to our firefighting efforts and support personnel.”
The province said Friday 33 Department of Natural Resources firefighters and 10 local firefighters are battling the Long Lake fire.
Another fire burning in the Upper Hoyt Lake/Lower Hoyt Lake area, just south of Long Lake, is estimated at one hectare and is now being held, which means it is not likely to move as long as conditions don’t change. Two DNR firefighters are on that scene.
A fire at Durland Lake Brook — near the Annapolis County-Queens County border — is estimated to be 0.5 hectares and is also being held on Friday morning. Five DNR and 12 local firefighters are working on the ground there.
The Susies Lake fire near the Bayers Lake Business Park in Halifax is still being held and is not growing. Thirty DNR firefighters and six Halifax Fire and Emergency firefighters are working Friday to get that fire under control.
Volunteers step up
Volunteers have come together to house and feed firefighters battling the Long Lake fire.
James Wallace, the owner of Sunset Tides Development who recently bought the old barracks at the former Canadian Forces Base Cornwallis in Cornwallis Park, says a fire chief asked him Thursday morning if he could accommodate some firefighters that night.
His own construction crews and volunteers from the community immediately began sprucing up the building, which hasn’t been used for a few years — cleaning the kitchen, laundering linens and tackling plumbing and carpentry issues.
“We’ve had a very busy 24 hours,” Wallace told the CBC’s Maritime Noon. “Until about three o’clock, it was chaos.”
Smoke from the Long Lake fire near West Dalhousie, N.S., is seen over the treetops on Aug. 15. (Brett Ruskin/CBC)
French toast was served this morning, and volunteers are on hand making spaghetti sauce for this evening. People have dropped off groceries and brought fresh baked goods, and Wallace and his assistant’s email and phone have been flooded with offers of help, he said.
Thirty-five firefighters stayed there Thursday night, another 25 are expected to arrive from Ontario today, and Nova Scotian crews who had gone to New Brunswick to help battle fires there will be returning and staying at the former barracks on Saturday.
“These people are out trying to save homes. They’re trying to save forests. They’re trying to save animals,” Wallace said. “The least that we can do is give them somewhere comfortable to sleep and food in their bellies.… I think it’s a no-brainer.”
Sporadic rain
Enslow said there was sporadic rain across the county Thursday night, with some areas receiving a lot and others getting none. The Long Lake fire site had little rain, he said.
According to Environment Canada, no further rain is in the forecast in the area until Sunday night, when there is a 30 per cent chance of precipitation.
The national weather forecaster has issued an air quality statement for Annapolis County and parts of Halifax County, saying smoke from the wildfires is reducing air quality in the area, and that people who are more likely to be impacted by smoke — including pregnant people, infants and young children, people with chronic health conditions and people who work outdoors — should avoid strenuous outdoor activities.