There were audible cheers in the community near Ostrea Lake in Halifax Regional Municipality on Monday afternoon after an evacuation order was lifted for the remaining homes impacted by a wildfire that broke out Sunday.
Officials say the fire is now being held, but crews will continue to work throughout the day.
“We’ve got 20 DNR (Department of Natural Resources) staff out on site, along with a helicopter,” said Scott Tingley, the manager of forest protection with DNR.
“We’ve also got two Halifax Fire and Emergency tankers out there providing water supplies, as well as five (volunteer) members. And so, crews are just still working hard.”
Tingley says the fire is contained at about 30 hectares. It was labelled out of control on Sunday afternoon, as firefighters were pulled from the woods and DNR helicopters took over.
Rain later in the afternoon helped with the situation, and the fire was eventually contained. However, evacuation orders stayed in place for about 30 homes overnight.
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“The DNR helicopter was dropping water from a helicopter bucket overhead and they were really helpful to to stop some of those hotter parts of the fire from advancing,” said Tingley.
“The head or the front of the fire as we call it was too intense initially for firefighters to make a direct attack on and so they concentrated their efforts on cooler parts of the fire near the rear.”
The area’s councillor, David Hendsbee, was on-site at a comfort centre in nearby Musquodoboit on Monday.
He credits the hfxALERT app for notifying residents of the evacuation order, along with some help from police and residents.
“Neighbours, as well as the police, were going door to door in the area when the first fire alerts came out. Also the social media blew up in the area in regards to the local Facebook pages so they were getting their alerts that way,” he said.
Residents who weren’t under evacuation orders were advised to close all windows and doors, shut down air exchangers and to stay inside until air quality improved Sunday night.
The cause of the fire is under investigation and crews will be on scene until the blaze is fully extinguished, which officials say could take a few days.
With hotter temperatures and dryer conditions expected this week, Hendsbee says he hopes the fire is put out soon.
“That’s the concern we have in regards to any hotspots that maybe still be there that could flare up in the wind. So we got to make sure they get doused,” he said.
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