Tantallon-area wildfire victims seek transparency from provincial investigation

Tantallon wildfire victims wonder what is next Victims of the Tanatallon, N.S., wildfire wonder what's next for the case after a man was charged in relation to the Barrington Lake fire.

Days after a man was charged in connection with the largest wildfire in Nova Scotia history, wildfire victims in another part of the province are wondering what will happen with their investigation.

The 22-year-old Shelburne County man was charged under the Forests Act in connection with the Barrington Lake fire southwest of Shelburne, N.S., which broke out on May 26, 2023.

Meanwhile, the province’s Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR) is still investigating the Upper Tantallon-area fire northwest of Halifax, which was smaller in scale, but destroyed more than twice as many buildings last spring.

“(We’re) looking for some accountability through the fire that we had here in May and June of 2023 and I think, as well, while we’re looking for accountability, we’re also looking for an explanation,” said Dustin O’Leary, the president of the Westwood Hills Resident Association, in Upper Tantallon on Sunday.

Last month, the Nova Scotia RCMP said there was insufficient evidence to indicate the fire was the result of arson.

O’Leary says the community wants transparency from the DNRR investigation.

“The way that we found out that the RCMP was not going to move forward with charges in any way was through a freedom of information request from the province that was displayed by a resident,” he says.

“If nothing’s going to happen then I think, I’m hoping, that there’s some accountability and some acknowledgement from both DNRR and from the RCMP that there’s better communication needed here to explain either why or why not.”

The RCMP has also said evidence does not support criminal charges in connection with the Barrington Lake fire.

“Arson under the criminal code is a very serious offense with a maximum penalty as high as life imprisonment and on a number of the related arson offense is 14 years in jail,” explains Wayne MacKay, professor emeritus at Dalhousie University's law school.

Meanwhile, those convicted of violating the Forests Act can be fined up to $50,000 and/or face up to six months in prison. That is not enough, according to residents in Shelburne County.

“A fine to me wouldn’t justify anything because the young fella probably hasn’t got two-cents to his name anyway,” says Barrington Lake wildfire victim Barry Doane. “You can put them in jail for six months, but what’s that going to do?”

Doane wants to see criminal charges laid in Shelburne County, but MacKay says that requires a heavy burden of proof and motive.

“Arson requires intent or recklessness and for the forestry offense, there might be an element of negligence but not a requirement of intent or recklessness,” he says.

Doane lost both his home and cottage to the Barrington Lake wildfire and says he did not have insurance.

While he has a place to stay for now, he plans on having a mortgage again in the next year.

“I’ve worked my whole life and had paid off my mortgage. Now, as a senior, I am going to have to do it all over again. I don’t know what I am going to do,” says Doane, who is 70-year-old.

He adds the memories of the wildfire are still painful.

“Pictures came up on Facebook yesterday and I had a picture of my house with snow on the roof and that made me cry,” Doane says. “Just to remember that what I had is gone and I keep thinking of all these little, tiny things, but I’ll never be able to replace that stuff.”

Experts caution people not jump to conclusions following the charges in Shelburne County.

“While this person’s activities allegedly was a factor in the fire, it’s not the only factor,” MacKay says. “It was very dry, some suggest climate change, and the changes from that were a factor in the amount of underbrush in the forest; let it grow much more quickly. So there are a lot of other factors that played into the seriousness of the fire, and not simply the act of one person.”

MacKay also says there is no room for a vigilantism while the DNRR investigation continues in Upper Tantallon, which would take up to two years.

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