Jordan Bay forest fire contained
About 15 hectares of woodland were destroyed by a forest fire in Jordan Bay, Shelburne County, that broke out on Aug. 25.
It was the second fire in the Jordan Falls area within a week.
Firefighters on the ground and two Lands and Forestry water bombers in the air tackled the blaze for the first two days. Local volunteers also lent a hand. Twelve crews out of Shelburne, Queens and Yarmouth counties Lands and Forestry as well as one helicopter were still on the scene two days later trying to get the fire contained.
“Once they get the hose all the way around it, they call it contained,” said Scott Tingley, Manager of Forest Protection.
Going into the Labour Day weekend, the status of the fire was contained.
Tingley said the fire started in a remote bog barren area and went into some of the standing timbers, burning about 15 hectares.
“It’s burning hot and deep,” as much as two feet in places, he said, noting at the time of the fire, “The area hasn’t had rain in about a month.”
The area is a few kilometers south of the Lake Rodney municipal water supply.
This was the second fire in the Jordan Falls area. A fire in the Lake John area that was ongoing when the Jordan Bay fire broke out has since been extinguished. It burnt about half a hectare and was caused by a lighting strike, said Tingley. The cause of Jordan is an ongoing investigation.
This has been a very dry summer. Tingley said while some parts of the province have recently had significant rainfall, the same wasn’t true for Shelburne, Queens and parts of Yarmouth counties.
The region did, however, experience heavy rainfall last Thursday.
People are always encouraged to follow – and check on – burn restrictions that the province has in place.