Crews tame Maitland Bridge wildfire, larger fire at Seven Mile Lake still uncontrolled

A 24-hectare fire in Maitland Bridge, N.S. is under control but firefighters are still trying to tame a 90-hectare wildfire at Seven Mile Lake in Annapolis County.

“Dry conditions are making containment challenging in some areas,” Brian Taylor, a natural resources spokesperson, said in an emailed statement. An air tanker from Newfoundland and Labrador is assisting with firefighting efforts at the Seven Mile Lake fire.

READ MORE: Crews battle three Nova Scotia wildfires

Hwy. 8 north of Maitland Bridge is again closed to allow crews to extinguish fires within the perimeter of the forest fire at Maitland Bridge.

Firefighters were able to contain a third wildfire in Greenfield, N.S. early Saturday. That fire burned almost five hectares of land.

The wildfires are in proximity to Kejimkujik National Park but don’t pose a risk to the park.

There are no reported injuries from the fires and they do not pose a risk to people or property in the area, Taylor said.

Dry soil making firefighting conditions more difficult

According to Environment Canada, there has been little to no rain in the area for the last few weeks. For example, it has not rained at all at Kejimkujik since July 26, and the last significant rainfall was on July 10 with 12.3 mm of rain.

“We’re in a state where the moisture levels in the ground are extremely low,” Department of Natural Resources forest resources technician Dave Steeves said Saturday evening. “So basically what that means is when a fire burns over, it burns into the ground and the ground will actually hold the fire for extended periods of time.”

That makes the firefighting effort even more difficult because it takes crews longer to put out the fire in any given spot, Steeves said.

Crews need ‘an act of nature’ 

Fire crews are expected to remain on scene for at least the rest of the week, Department of Natural Resources’ forest protection operations manager Jim Rudderham said.

Weather conditions are expected to stay dry, sunny, and hot throughout the week according to Environment Canada.

“It’s going to take probably an act of nature to be honest with you,” he said. “We’re going to have to have an extended period of precipitation in order to fully extinguish this.”