An out-of-control wildfire on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore has jumped significantly in size, with provincial officials reporting that it now covers 1,700 hectares, up from an earlier estimate of 300 hectares.
The fire is near Mooseland Road, about 100 kilometres east of Halifax. Crews resumed tackling the blaze at first light, the day after a mandatory evacuation order was issued for a 22-kilometre stretch of Mooseland Road, from civic address 4315 down to Highway 7.
The evacuation order was issued after the fire crossed Mooseland Road on Thursday, 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,” Jim Rudderham, director of fleet and wildfire management for the Department of Natural Resources, said Friday morning.
“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.”
Crews from various local volunteer fire departments are assisting, with support from Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency and the DNR. Helicopters were preparing to take off around 8:15 a.m. AT to support ground efforts.
Two fixed-wing water bombers from Nova Scotia will be in use today, along with two water bombers from Newfoundland and Labrador.
“Every tool in the toolbox will help us,” said Rudderham. “This morning, the weather is a little calmer, and we can get some heavy aircraft on the fire, and our crews as well, to start tightening those boundaries. It’ll certainly help.”
The fire began late Wednesday night, but grew amid dry, hot conditions on Thursday.
While there was 4.6 millimetres of rain in the area overnight, Rudderham said the forest remains dangerously dry.
“I suspect that the fire last night probably laid down pretty good and didn’t do much movement at all, but as the morning progresses and the day heats up, it will start to move again.”
Jacob Prest, who lives in the area covered under the evacuation order, said the fire appeared to escalate quickly Thursday evening.
“It kind of erupted, the smoke did, around supper time … and the fire … just ran away from everybody yesterday,” he said.
He said Mooseland Road is a tight-knit, family community, with about a 70/30 split between full-time and seasonal residents.
According to a Thursday estimate from the Halifax Regional Municipality, the evacuation order affects between 100-150 people.
“It was pretty hectic,” said Prest. “Mostly with people … who don’t live here that have senior parents, responding quickly and coming out to get their parents.”
Prest said firefighters came to his door to inform him of the evacuation order, but after talking with officials, he’s decided to stay for now, as the fire appears to be tracking in the opposite direction of his home.
He said he was told one of the main reasons for the evacuation was the fact that power was cut off in the area.
“They didn’t seem to have a huge problem at that point with us staying, but … we’re watching things closely,” Prest said. “We have our go bags packed and ready if the wind changes.”
As of 9 a.m. Friday, Nova Scotia Power’s outage map listed 167 customers in the area without electricity.
Cellphone service near Mooseland Road is also “non-existent,” Prest said.
For those with homes in the area who are away or living outside the province, it’s been painful to watch from afar.
“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,” Melissa Charalambous said Friday from her home in Ontario.
Charalambous owns a cottage, which once belonged to her late father, near Mooseland Road.
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.”
Rain in the forecast for Sunday
Crews are keeping a close eye on the forecast, which calls for rain on Sunday.
“We live on the weather,” Rudderham said. “We watch it. We listen to it … so we’re very hopeful that that rain does materialize on Sunday.”
With wildfire season in full swing, Rudderham urged all rural Nova Scotians to be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
“You have to be prepared. You never know what might come,” he said.
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