More than 200 homes and other buildings have been damaged or destroyed, according to officials
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A local official who visited the wildfire area northwest of Halifax on Tuesday said it has left “visible scars” on the community.
“It was so random,” said Cathie O’Toole, Halifax’s chief administrative officer, at a press conference in the afternoon. “You could walk through a neighborhood and see that one house was destroyed but the one next door was fine.” “The second thing that stood out to me was how quickly people left.”
When people can go back to the area, O’Toole said, “The whole community is going to need some help to get back on its feet.”
Officials said Tuesday that the fire did not spread, but it is still dangerous.
David Steeves of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources said that crews were busy all afternoon putting out smoke and small fires.
“They’re not just trying to put out a fire; they’re also trying to save a community,” Steeves told reporters at a 5 p.m. news briefing.
At 3 p.m., the N.S. Premier and other officials will talk about the wildfires.
Halifax Fire Deputy Chief David Meldrum said that crews will stay in the area all night to put out hot spots. The area is about 788 hectares and is in the suburbs of Hammonds Plains, Upper Tantallon, and Pockwock. He also thanked the Hantsport and Brooklyn fire departments for their help.
Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay of the Nova Scotia RCMP said that police have been keeping an eye on the affected areas for thefts and other strange behavior. So far, he said, there have been none.
During a meeting with reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Premier Tim Houston said that all travel and activities in Nova Scotia’s forests, like hiking, fishing, camping, and driving off-road vehicles, are now banned across the whole province.
Wooded areas of parks close
“We want people to get out of the woods,” said Houston.
On Wednesday at 8 a.m., the wooded parts of city parks will be closed. Parks like Shubie Park, Point Pleasant Park, and Admiral Cove Park, which have a lot of trees, will be closed for good. Playgrounds and sports fields that are not in the woods will still be open.
The restrictions are in place until June 25 “or until conditions allow them to be lifted.”
Mayor Mike Savage said that officials are thinking about making the evacuation area smaller so that some people who had to leave their homes because of the fire could go back sooner.
Savage said that a decision will be made on Wednesday morning, but that it all depends on how the wildfire moves. He said that even if the risk of the fire spreading goes up, there will be no changes to the areas that are being evacuated.
Savage told reporters Tuesday afternoon, “This is dangerous and unpredictable, and fire safety is our top concern.”
Savage said that anyone who wants to help the people who had to leave their homes because of the fire can give money to United Way Halifax, which has set up a wildfire recovery appeal.
On Monday night, the Halifax Regional Municipality said that 200 homes or other buildings in the suburbs about 25 kilometers from Halifax, where many people who work in the city live, have been damaged so far.
Meldrum said earlier that most of the buildings that were damaged or destroyed were single-family homes. He asked the 16,400 residents who are anxiously waiting to hear about their homes to be patient.
He said it will take “considerable time,” but officials will put together all the information and make a map showing exactly where every damaged property is.
The government is telling people not to try to go back to their homes.
Hammonds Plains Road has a new fire
Late Tuesday afternoon, a new fire was reported near the Farmers’ Dairy building on Hammonds Plains Road.
Even though it’s close to where the first fire started, it’s still considered a new fire.
From Farmers Dairy Lane to Giles Drive, the area around Hammonds Plains Road has been shut down, and people are being moved out.
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This morning, there was a lot of smoke in the area, and it could be seen and smelled all over.
Due to heavy smoke, the RCMP told commuters to be careful when driving near Highway 103’s Exit 5.
Meldrum said that there have been more calls to emergency health services from people with breathing problems because of the bad air quality. Some of these calls have come from as far away as Dunbrack Street in Halifax, which is about 20 kilometers from Upper Tantallon.
Air quality concern
“Smoke is definitely a stressor,” he said at a briefing on Tuesday. “I’m not a doctor, but I know that people who are weak and may have a weak immune system or a lung disease need to be very, very careful around smoke.”
The Lung Association of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island said that older people, pregnant women, babies, and young children, and especially people who already have breathing problems like chronic lung disease, are more likely to get sick from the wildfire smoke.
“These people are already having trouble breathing, so adding wood fire smoke to the air can really make their condition worse,” Michelle Donaldson, the communications director for the association, told CBC Radio.Good morning, Nova Scotia!.
Donaldson said that those people should stay inside, not exercise, stay in cool places, and use portable air conditioners and the recirculation function on their HVAC system.
“Wildfire smoke can travel a long way and stay in the air for weeks at a time,” she said. “Even if you can’t see the smoke in your area, the particulate matter and air quality go down, so people need to take precautions to protect their lung health.”
Donaldson said that if people start to have more serious symptoms like dizziness, chest pain, a severe cough, or trouble breathing, they should call their doctor or get medical help right away.
She also said that N95 masks can help filter out small particles in the air if someone has to be outside in the smoke.
An emergency alert was sent out Monday at 9:28 p.m. AT said that no fires, including campfires, can be lit in Nova Scotia until at least June 25 “or until conditions improve.”
The city said it is also working on a plan to help residents, but that it could take a few days or longer.
It said that people from the Insurance Bureau of Canada would be at the Canada Games Centre, which is currently being used as a comfort center for people who had to leave their homes, to talk to residents.
During a news conference on Monday afternoon, Houston said that families who had to leave their homes would be able to get up to $500 in financial help. More information about who is eligible and how residents can sign up is expected today.
There have been no reports of injuries or missing people.
The fire was first reported on Sunday around 3:30 p.m. in the Westwood Hills neighborhood off Hammonds Plains Road. The reason for that fire is being
Scott Tingley, who is in charge of protecting forests for the DNR, said Monday that people probably had something to do with it.
“It’s safe to say that they were all caused by people,” Tingley said. “There have been no reports of lightning in the area, so they must be caused by people.”
Meldrum said again on Tuesday that the firefighting effort will take longer than expected.
Evacuation area
The city said that the evacuation zone could change because the wind changed direction Monday night. If people have to leave, they should take their pets, important papers, medications, and enough food and water for 72 hours with them.
People who live in areas where the local state of emergency is in effect should have a bag packed and ready to go in case they have to leave quickly.
So far, evacuations have happened in the following places:
- Westwood subdivision.
- White Hills subdivision.
- Highland Park subdivision.
- Haliburton Hills.
- Pockwock Road.
- Glen Arbour.
- Take Lucasville Road to Sackville Drive.
- Maplewood.
- Voyageur Way.
- St. George Boulevard and all of the streets off of it
- McCabe Lake area.
- Indigo Shores.
In a news release sent out Monday afternoon, the Halifax Regional Municipality said that all residents who were told to leave must register with 311 (call toll-free at 1-800-835-6428 or 1.866.236.0020 if you are hearing impaired and use a teletypewriter).
School closure
Today, the following schools are closed:
- Bay View High School.
- Tantallon Junior Elementary.
- Tantallon Senior Elementary.
- Five Bridges Junior High.
- Elementary school in St. Margaret’s Bay.
- Kingswood Elementary.
- Hammonds Plains Consolidated.
- The middle school is Madeline Symonds.
- Harry R. Hamilton Elementary.
- Millwood Elementary.
- Millwood High School.
- Sackville Heights Elementary.
- Junior high school in Sackville Heights.
- École du Grand-Portage.
Residents who left the Halifax area because of a wildfire say that homes and roadsides were on fire.
A local state of emergency has been called because the Shelburne County forest fire is still out of control.
Comfort centre
Sunday night, the Halifax Regional Municipality declared a local state of emergency so that it could get more help.
There are now comfort centers in the following places:
- The Black Point and Area Community Centre at 8579 St. Margarets Bay Rd. opens on Tuesday at 7 a.m. and will stay open until further notice.
- The Beaver Bank Kinsac Community Center at 1583 Beaver Bank Rd. opens on Tuesday at 7 a.m. and will stay open until further notice.
- The Canada Games Centre is open 24 hours a day. Thomas Raddall, Dr.
- The John W. Lindsay YMCA, 5640 Sackville St., is open from 5:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7:45 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
- Community YMCA, 2269 Gottingen St., Halifax, 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
On Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., a mobile primary health clinic will be at the Canada Games comfort center. The clinic will be able to help with non-urgent health problems like prescription refills, minor respiratory symptoms, sore throats, headaches, muscle pain, and mental health and addiction support.