The aftermath of a large brush fire is evident in one Glace Bay neighbourhood on Wednesday.
A baby barn is destroyed, and next door, siding has been melted off a garage as residents describe a wall of fire approaching their property.
“I thought the house was going,” says concerned resident Joan O’Brien, “because as you can see it was coming right up here.”
O’Brien says she was told to get in her car and leave as three different fire departments were needed to fight the flames.
Just down the road, resident Elmore MacNeil watched the fire from his home.
“You got to watch,” he says. “I could hear it crackling coming through here. The wind was high, so you really had to watch.”
Officials say the fire was the result of someone burning garbage in their backyard.
But for dozens of other fires reported across the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, they are believed to have been deliberately set.
“When the wind did change at one point, the flames were actually racing towards their properties,” explains Chief John Chant of the Glace Bay Volunteer Fire Department, “and the smoke, it was very thick. We actually had one fire fighter from Tower Road taken to hospital for a medical issue due to smoke.”
There were nearly 100 grass fire calls in the CBRM on Tuesday, tying up seventeen different departments.
With more calls expected Wednesday, fire services say they could top the 200 mark by the end of the day.
“We had one baby barn completely destroyed,” says Chief Chant. “It was full of brand new tires; new tools were lost in it. We had barns, and garages that lost siding.”
For the third straight day fire fighters across the municipality have been going non-stop.
So far, police say no charges have been laid as a result, but patrols have been stepped up.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.
