Community gets together one year after devastating Hammonds Plains, N.S., fire
The Hammonds Plains fires are now a year in the past, but for many of the residents who lost their homes or where displaced, the incident is still fresh.
“It was very traumatic to have minutes to evacuate your home and see smoke and fire burning all around you,” says Elsje Falcone.
Seventy one families in the Highland Park subdivision lost their homes, another 38 where damaged.
Elsje and Jim Falcone were among the lucky few to escape the flames with their home untouched, many who didn’t are still rebuilding their properties.
“We’ve been displaced ever since, but the people that are still in the subdivision, either with major damage, minor damage, or no damage still feel this impact on a daily basis,” says Tricia Murray-D’Eon, resident and chair of the Highland Park Ratepayers Association.
As part of the healing process, Murray-D’Eon helped organized an ice cream social and community walk for those from the devastated subdivision.
“It’s important to have the community get together. We are celebrating moving forward, this is not a moment of tragedy,” Murray-D’Eon says. “This is a way to come together to celebrate a new year. We’re hoping that people can continue to rebuild and come back to our community and that we will be whole again eventually.”
Moving forward together is one of the steps in that process.
People walk on a trail on the one-year anniversary of the Hammonds Plains, N.S., wildfire. (Jonathan MacInnis/CTV Atlantic)
“Our house was damaged in the fire. We did not lose our home, but our home was damaged in the fire, but a lot of our neighbours lost their homes so we’ve been coming together more as a community since the fire,” says Krista Hilchey.
“We’re doing some recollection of the last year, as a family, the trauma we went through, the support and the resilience afterwards. But like Krista said, just supporting each other is really important for us,” adds her husband, Jeff.
That’s how the community has come this far, and will continue to do moving forward.
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
Correction
This article has been updated with the correct subdivision with the destroyed and damaged homes. A previous version said it was in the Haliburton subdivision.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Sick to my stomach': People grieve Jasper National Park by sharing favourite photos
As an out-of-control wildfire roared through Alberta’s famed Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday, many are fearing the worst as officials warned of 'significant loss' within the area.
LIVE UPDATES 'Hopefully it's better than what we're thinking': Jasper wildfire damage details anxiously awaited
Officials are waiting to learn Thursday morning the extent of wildfire damage in the Jasper townsite of Jasper National Park, which flames began to eat away at the night before.
Canadian women's soccer team staffer given suspended prison sentence over drone incident, prosecutor says
A Canada women's soccer team staffer has been given an eight-month suspended prison sentence after flying a drone to film the closed-door training session of the New Zealand team on Monday, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Sale of envoy's NYC condo 'expected to exceed' $9M: government
The current official residence for Canada's representative in New York City is 'being readied for sale,' according to a spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada.
Jasper wildfire burns buildings, while poor air quality forces some fire crews out
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
'I'm so broke': Two Toronto women speak out after losing $76,000 in romance scam
Two women from the Toronto area are speaking out after losing thousands of dollars to a romance scam, including a single mother who lost $62,000.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Loblaw to settle class action over bread price-fixing for $500 million
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. say they have agreed to pay $500 million to settle a pair of class-action lawsuits regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
EXCLUSIVE One address, 76 foreign currency dealers: Inside Canada's money service business 'clusters'
An IJF and CTV News investigation has found dozens of cases across Canada where multiple money services businesses (MSBs) are incorporated at the same address, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of the location's actual occupant. One money laundering expert calls it an 'abuse of the system.'