Crews throw ‘everything’ at Nova Scotia wildfires
HALIFAX — Fire crews were desperately holding back an out-ofcontrol wildfire near Kejimkujik National Park on Tuesday, trying to keep it from growing ahead of hotter, windier weather expected to make the task more difficult.
“What we are doing is hitting it hard as we can with everything we got to keep it from growing,” Jim Rudderham, the province’s operations manager for forest protection, said Tuesday night.
“It’s the biggest effort to put out a fire since I’ve been a supervisor here. It’s big.”
The wildfire, in the Seven Mile Lake area, grew 100 hectares overnight Monday to about 240 hectares, but the more than 50 people on the front lines kept it from growing further, Rudderham said.
“Hopefully, the weather will turn and we can gain on this fire. But [today’s] supposed to be a nicer day — that’s bad for us,” he said. Rudderham said forecasters predicted a “clothesline day” for today — low humidity, lots of sun, and brisk winds.
“That’s the worst thing you have fighting a fire.”
There is no threat to communities “yet,” and Kejimkujik park is not currently in danger, he said.
On Tuesday, the province began restricting activity within forests such as hiking, camping and fishing in a bid to keep more bone-dry woods from going up in flames.
The Natural Resources department said smaller fires that were burning in Maitland Bridge, Greenfield and Collingwood had all been contained, while a blaze at Perch Lake, in northeastern Nova Scotia, was “being held back by crews and remains at 80 per cent contained.” A new fire was reported in West Dalhousie, but “we hit that fire hard,” and it’s contained, Rudderham said.
Crews had to be removed from the Seven Mile Lake area late Monday afternoon for their safety as water bombers kept dousing the blaze, but no further evacuations were necessary Tuesday, he said.
Among the equipment being used in the fight is an air tanker from Newfoundland, three air tankers from New Brunswick, two helicopters and two more water bombers that arrived Tuesday from Quebec, he said.
Rudderham said the whole province is “very dry,” and urged all Nova Scotians to be careful anywhere they go. “Anything can start a fire,” he said.
• VANCOUVER — Drones are about to be added to the firefighting arsenal of the B.C. Wildfire Service. Spokeswoman Erin Catherall said the service has conducted two seasons of trials and is ready to put the remotely controlled aircraft to work.
Drones have already been an important part of the battle against recent wildfires in northeastern B.C. because they are cheaper and safer than piloted aircraft, Catherall said.
They can also be used at night, when most helicopters and planes are grounded. Catherall said that allows firefighters to identify hot spots for immediate action as soon as the sun rises.
The wildfire service hopes drones will help with the efficient deployment of planes and crews during critical situations.
“They’re able to detect really hard-to-find hot spots and give co-ordinates that crews can then use to assist with locating and extinguishing the hot spots within the fire perimeter,” Catherall said.