My Beautiful Province Is On Fire, Again

On Tuesday a wildfire broke out not too far from where we live, less then 3km “as the crow flies”. The fire, in the Bayer’s Lake Business Park and shopping district at Susie’s Lake, Nova Scotia (NS) was just a little too close to home for comfort. I was at a nearby building for work, which was higher up and with a better vantage point of the fire so I was keeping my husband updated as he was a bit closer to the fire at our buildings. We were close enough that we had ash falling on us and thick smoke. To say it was unnerving is an understatement. I think we both felt on edge right into the night. Luckily they attacked the fire with Department of Natural Resources (DNR) helicopters from NS and water bombers from New Brunswick (NB). Today it is mostly under control and only about 15 hectares. The later said it was cause by human activity in the woods near the park. Here are a few pictures not long after it started. I’ve been too busy to get any more.

A day or so later we became aware of another fire in Annapolis County where my parents live. It’s not too close to them that they are in danger, however it is close enough that they have gotten a lot of smoke from it. The fire, near West Dalhousie at Long Lake is close to Bridgetown, NS which is about 17km “as the crow flies” from my parents. It is currently at about 1100 hectares. It was 400 hectares Friday and grew to 800 yesterday and then 1100 overnight last night. The fire was caused by a lightning strike. It is currently threatening more then 100 homes with more evacuations expected this evening.

They have been fighting this fire with DNR helicopters as well as ground firefighting crews. The same water bombers that fought the Susie’s Lake fire early this week are currently fighting this one, along with additional water bombers from the North West Territories today (about 4000km away!). Yesterday, one of the helicopters from NS crashed into a shallow part of a lake, and I believe it’s still there. It took an hour and a half for nearby firefighters and crew to get to and rescue the pilot. Who is now in the hospital but expected to make a full recovery, thankfully. To say that we are grateful to these firefighters and pilots, again, is an understatement!

This is all the result of weeks of hot weather, extreme heat waves and draught. We are currently under voluntary water conservation measures due to the draught. The weather has been hot and humid all summer. To the point where the woods were so dry that even before the fires started we have been under mandatory fire bans and then a mandatory ban from even entering the woods and forests. A complete blanket ban. No entering at all. Even in the city. No hiking, fishing, ATV’s or entering the woods at all without a permit. Not even paths in the city in wooded areas. This has not gone over well with some people who say its a violation of our rights. But it is so needed! I have no issue with it at all and think it should remain in place until this is over. We are still so dry, in fact all of the Atlantic provinces are. There are fires in NB and Newfoundland as well. There has been fire bans and even New Brunswick implemented a similar forest and woods ban as we have here in NS.

This is not the first time this has happened. There is fires every few years. But we don’t usually have multiple large fires like they do out west. In 2023 we had a rather bad one, it was 969 hectares and burned down 151 houses just outside the city. I only found out the number of houses in researching this. I had no idea it was that high. I do know there was many pets and wildlife lost but no human deaths as a direct cause of the fire in 2023. Considering the one outside Bridgetown is 1100 hectares and still growing is scary when you think of the loss of homes from the 2023 fire, however the area of this current fire is not nearly as populated as it is rural and not urban. That was the issue with the 2023 fire, it was urban and in a very populated area on the outskirts of the city.

So, on top of all of this, hurricane season is just starting here. The first hurricane of the season in the Atlantic, named Erin, rapidly grew to a Category 5 yesterday, over the last few hours it’s been downgraded to a Category 3 and is currently tracking to come quite close to the southern tip of the province. As with many hurricanes that have threatened us in the past, this track can change and completely miss us, or it can come even closer or even hit us directly. We have had a few that have hit us since 2000. You can find a list here. The three that I remember being affected by the most where Juan in 2003 which did major damage to the city, Dorian in 2019 which toppled a crane onto a residential apartment building and caused a lot of damage in and near the city and Fiona in 2022 which affected the Digby area where we were living at the time causing a lot of damage there to trees. We were camping when that one happened. Oops.

I guess the biggest question I have is what will the effect of the winds and rain be on the fire(s). I am not sure if the Susie’s Lake one is even completely out, but it might be by then. As for the one near Bridgetown, I do wonder what kind of effect the hurricane if it hits or comes close will have on the fire if it is still burning. I guess that depends on how much rain, and how much wind. As you usually get the wind first I assume it could make it worse, but will there be enough rain to put it out or make a huge difference? I asked Google and it’s AI answer is:

A hurricane can significantly alter the conditions of a forest fire, potentially increasing its intensity, spread, and duration. While the heavy rainfall associated with hurricanes can suppress some fires, the strong winds can create dangerous conditions, and the storm can leave behind large amounts of downed and dead trees that act as fuel, making subsequent fires more likely and severe. 

I have no idea how accurate that is, so we’ll see.