Wildland firefighters have been working around around the clock for days trying to fight multiple wildfires throughout the Western Region of Nova Scotia.
“These people are working for more than just to extinguish a fire, they’re working to save a community,” Dave Steeves said, a forest resources technician with the Department of Natural Resources.
Steeves is part of the dozens of DNR crew members on the ground and in the air battling the blazes.
The department has been overwhelmed with support from multiple provinces and volunteer firefighters.
“We couldn’t do this without them, they’re a huge support to our efforts. What they supply in logistic capabilities and man power, we just wouldn’t be able to have the success rate that we do without them,” Steeves said.
One of the volunteer crews is from Lawrencetown and District Volunteer Fire Department.
Their home base is in Annapolis County, over 100 kilometers away.
They’ve been driving in daily to help fill their tanker with water and supply the front line fighters.
“We left Lawrencetown this morning about 6:30 am and we’ll probably be back, I don’t know 8 or 9:00 pm tonight,” Bob Gesner said, a volunteer with the department.
He’s been volunteering his time to firefighting for decades.
“It’s in my blood. I’ll have 48 years in the end of this year and I’m looking for 50,” Gesner said.
He and his team have been putting in 14 hour days since the wildfires in Queens County began.
And the conditions have been anything but pleasant.
“It’s dusty, hot, black and there’s a lot of fire hose laying, miles of fire hose laying throughout the woods,” Gesner said.
Despite the stifling hot temperatures and long commute, he’s just happy to be part of the entire firefighting team.
“Everybody’s so cooperative and interested in doing their job.”