West Dalhousie, N.S., wildfire grows to 300 hectares; evacuation order expanded

A wildfire has consumed three square kilometres in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia.

More residents in West Dalhousie, N.S., have been told to evacuate their homes “immediately” Thursday evening as a wildfire near Long Lake grows to 300 hectares.

The initial evacuation order, which was issued Thursday morning, applies to people living at civic addresses #4094 to #5315 West Dalhousie Road. Officials say it affects roughly 42 homes.

“Leave the area immediately,” said the Annapolis Regional Emergency Management Organization in a statement around 10:15 a.m. Thursday.

“Staying may result in injury or loss of life.”

The expanded evacuation order applies to the Dalhousie Road intersection to 484 Morse Rd.; 4530 to 6186 West Dalhousie Rd.; 2648 to 3408 Thorne Rd.; and 122, 126 and 126-Unit 2 Medicraft Ln.

During a media briefing Thursday afternoon, officials with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said the wildfire is only about three kilometres from West Dalhousie Road.

Dustin Enslow, the deputy warden of Annapolis County, told CTV News the evacuation order affects roughly 55 homes and 100 people.

Residents were told to take a 72-hour emergency kit and critical items, such as medications, wallets and keys.

Evacuees should check in at the Bridgetown Fire Hall at 31 Bay Road.

As of noon, Enslow said about 49 people from 27 homes had checked in at the fire hall, which is being used as a comfort station.

“It’s very important for them to check in, that way we know exactly that they’re out of the danger area and that we can provide assistance where we can,” said Enslow.

“We still have search and rescue that are going checking door-to-door to make sure that the houses are evacuated, and if there’s any type of situation where they can’t, whether there’s a mobile issue or if they have animals and pets, then we’ll try to work with them to escalate that.”

Jamie Borden is among the evacuees. He says he packed up his family and a bunch of necessities, including his chickens and meat harvest for the year.

“If it’s going to get cooked by fires, it’s going to be on the barbecue, not so much the forest fires,” said Borden.

“We didn’t push it by any means, but we had enough time to gather up as much as we could. If I would have had a trailer for the truck I would have probably put more stuff on there.”

Officials aren’t certain how long the evacuation order will remain in place.

“This is an evolving situation that we’re watching and looking at,” said Jim Rudderham, director of fleet and forest protection with DNR. “Once the threat of the fire passes then we will let those doing the evacuations know that and they will do their process to allow people back home again.”

People who are not affected by the evacuation order are being urged to avoid the area.

The county says residents can call 1-833-806-1515 for more information.

Long Lake fire caused by lightning strike

DNR officials believe the wildfire near Long Lake was caused by a lightning strike.

They say the wildfire is still out of control and growing. It was estimated to be 30 hectares Thursday morning and officials now say it is roughly 300 hectares, up from just 0.2 hectares Wednesday.

“The trees are fully involved in the fire, so the whole trees are burning as the flame front is advancing. It’s extreme fire behaviour,” said Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection for DNR. “It was more active last night than we typically see and … it poses additional challenges in terms of suppression, so we’re dealing with some intense burning fires.”

A wildfire near Hoyt Lake is still considered out of control but is now believed to be one hectare, down from eight hectares Wednesday.

“Aircraft and crews have prioritized and hit that one very hard. That’s one of our tactics, is to try to keep fires very small, and they’ve done very well to do that,” said Tingley. “So that’s a lot of focusing on containing and extinguishing that one today so we don’t have to deal with multiple large fires.”

DNR says 30 crew members have been assigned to Long Lake while seven DNR firefighters are working near Hoyt Lake.

One DNR helicopter and two contracted helicopters are working on both fires. Crews are putting a dozer guard around the West Dalhousie Community Centre and two communication towers.

Other Nova Scotia wildfires

There are several other wildfires burning in the province, including one in the Bayers Lake area of Halifax. DNR said that fire was being held at 15 hectares Thursday.

Thirty DNR crew members and 12 Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency firefighters are on site Thursday and are still working to bring it under control.

Businesses that were under a mandatory evacuation order were allowed to reopen Thursday, however.

A wildfire at Lake Paul was held at 1.9 hectares and is now under control. Ten DNR crew members and 10 local fire department firefighters were on scene.

Six small wildfires in the Birchwood Road area of Oxford are all under control. DNR says crews will remain on site until they are fully extinguished.

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