Homes have been evacuated from an area near a forest fire on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore.
In a post to X on Sunday, Nova Scotia RCMP say they were assisting Halifax Fire and Emergency and the Department of Natural Resources at the scene of a forest fire along Ostrea Lake Road, which is located near Musquodoboit Harbour.
Police said they are evacuating residents from the 600 block of Ostrea Lake Road, including adjoining roads, to Highway 7. The highway has been closed to traffic from Pond Road to Strike Lane.
Ronnie Poan owns a bowling alley, UnBOWLievable Lanes, located on Strike Lane. He said he could smell smoke around 1 p.m. AT.
“I was thinking that’s awful weird for somebody to have a fire in the house today because it’s warm out, not because it’s cold,” he said. “But it was … definitely a forest fire I smelled.”
Poan said the bowling alley was holding a youth club banquet today. He said some people have stayed behind because they can’t head home with traffic only moving in one direction on Highway 7.
Around 4 p.m., the Halifax Professional Fire Fighters association posted to X to say the fire remains out of control and crews are focused solely on protecting structures. Crews are not in the woods for safety reasons, but air support is being provided.
🔥 OSTREA LAKE WILDFIRE – UPDATE 3 🔥<br>RCMP are currently handling evacuations in the Ostrea Lake area. At this time, no additional evacuation orders have been issued beyond those already in place.<br><br>The fire remains active and out of control, with air support continuing… <a href=”https://t.co/1qiELZaQMT”>pic.twitter.com/1qiELZaQMT</a>
—@hfxfirefighters
The public is being advised to avoid the area. A burn ban is currently in effect in Halifax County.
Environment Canada is forecasting rain in the area for the next several hours
