Halifax-area residents board buses to view dozens of homes destroyed by wildfires
Scores of Halifax-area residents whose homes were destroyed by wildfires boarded buses Friday to get a look at what little remains of where they used to live.
Katherine Tarateski, a local real estate agent who lost her home during the fire, said she had already seen images of her house in ruins. But she said she wanted to help a neighbour who would be seeing the remains of her home for the first time.
“I’m going to support my friend because she was living alone, and she doesn’t want to be alone when she sees what’s left there,” Tarateski said. “It’s very emotional.”
Before three transit buses left a parking lot in Upper Tantallon, N.S., Red Cross workers hovered nearby, providing bottles of water and hugs to some of the passengers.
Local resident Jody Stuart, who also lost his home to the fire, said he didn’t want to be a part of the grim tour.
“I need to physically go and do my thing with family and friends beside me,” said Stuart, whose nine-year-old daughter was sitting behind him in his pickup truck, cuddling a stuffed dog.
“I’ve done a lot of hugging and crying,” Stuart said. “(But) I don’t plan on leaving my community, as I love my community.”
The contractor said his home in the Yankeetown subdivision contained all of his tools, which are now gone. “There are just two houses still standing (on my street),” he said. “It’s unbelievable.”
Bill Moore, the municipality’s executive director of community safety, told a news conference Friday that more than 200 people were expected to take part in similar tours in the coming days.
The wildfire that broke out Sunday in Upper Tantallon raced through a number of subdivisions and consumed about 200 structures, including 151 homes. In all, more than 16,000 people were evacuated from homes and businesses northwest of the port city’s downtown, but one of the orders was partially lifted Friday.
The Tantallon wildfire was among four wildfires in Nova Scotia still considered out of control on Friday. But 50 per cent of the Halifax fire was contained by firefighters.
Meanwhile, the forecast was calling for steady rain Friday night and into Saturday.
“We’re getting rain, and lots of it,” Bob Robichaud, a senior meteorologist with Environment Canada, told an afternoon briefing. He said the heaviest rain, which will extend into next week, will fall on the western side of the province, where it is needed most.