Wildfire risk low in Cape Breton due to snow, rain
SYDNEY — Heavy February snowfalls and recent rainfall events have put Cape Breton in a good situation heading into wildfire season.
“For now we're all blue. All the indices are very low,” said Scott Tingley, the province’s manager of forest protection at Natural Resources.
“So we’re in a very different place than we were last year.”
Fire risk is measured by five colours: blue is low, green is moderate, high is yellow, orange is very high and red is extreme.
"Last year, the month of March was very, very abnormally low rainfall and we did have a little bit of snow in March last year. But it just kind of wasn't enough to have an impact. And so by this time last year, we were quite dry," Tingley said.
It’s a critical time of year for the whole province heading into wildfire season — most of them historically in April and May.
“So it only takes a couple of days of sunny weather. And in the open areas now where there's grass and what we call fine fuels, the risk increases fairly quickly and you start to see some grass fires popping up or getting away from people burning in your backyard,” Tingley said.
“The actual forest is still pretty damp."
DRY WEATHER A RISK
We’re in a good spot now, but he said all it takes is a couple of weeks of dry weather without rain to change the situation and raise the forest fire risk.
“Once all the trees put their leaves on and the grass greens up … if we can get to that point and not have any major fires, we're probably in good shape,” Tingley said.
“And then of course, we watch conditions through the summer because we could have a dry spell at any point in the summer and we could have fires later in the summer as well.”
It’s tricky to rely on weather forecasts beyond about 24 hours, but as long as the current weather pattern continues until the end of May or early June and with a bit of rain every week, the fire risk should remain in a good situation.
The weather is monitored constantly. Fire restrictions are updated daily at 2 pm. at https://novascotia.ca/burnsafe.
Meanwhile, with grass fire season already started with a minor one last week, the Glace Bay Fire Department is
ready for whatever comes but hopes for a quiet season.
Fire Chief John Chant said last year there were 56 grass and brush fires in the community.
But that’s a vast improvement over 10-15 years ago when there were roughly 300 a year.
Chant said the department has a good fire prevention program in schools for both outside fire awareness and home fire safety.
Equipment for fighting grass fires is prepped, however.
“We’re ready to go. It’s just a matter of hoping it’s another quiet season,” Chant said.
He noted the former towns under the Cape Breton Regional Municipality prohibit open fires but residents do it anyway.