Crews are working to put out hot spots after a large wildfire burned in the Halifax area Monday.
The fire started Monday afternoon in the Lakeside, N.S. area, located roughly four kilometres west of Bayers Lake.
The fire damaged about six hectares of land, but didn’t damage any buildings.
Two helicopters helped fight the fire by dropping water on the flames Monday evening.
Fire officials say the blaze isn’t fully extinguished, but it is contained, and they are working to put out any hot spots.
“Because if we’re not sure that those areas are extinguished they can reignite the fire at a later date,” says forest fire technician Dave Steeves.
“We like to refer to it as the ground-and-pound. We will actually go through the fire and feel the fire with the backs of our hands to make sure that the fire is extinguished, but it’s very labour-intensive and takes a large amount of time.”
Crews aren’t certain how long it will take to extinguish all of the remaining hot spots.
Hot, dry weather has raised concerns about forests and woodlands being tinder dry, prompting a burn ban across much of the Maritimes.
