'Many, many lives turned upside down' by wildfires: N.S. premier
Nova Scotia’s premier says the “historic” wildfires in the province have caused a “breath-taking amount of damage.”
“Weather has favoured the fires all week, not the firefighters. We’re hopeful this will soon change,” Premier Tim Houston said during a news conference Friday.
Province-wide there are 14 active wildfires, four of which are out of control, and the fires cover about 23,000 hectares of land as of Friday afternoon.
In Shelburne, more than 5,000 residents have been evacuated — representing half of the community’s population. During peak evacuations in the Halifax area, more than 16,000 were forced to leave their homes.
“This is historic,” Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection with the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, said, adding that the fire in Shelburne County is the largest recorded wildfire in the province’s history.
“Through all this despair, zero deaths, zero missing persons, zero serious injuries. This says a lot about the professionalism of our first responders leading the response,” the premier said.
“No lives lost, but an absolutely breath-taking amount of damage and many, many lives turned upside down.”
About 150 homes have been destroyed by fires in the Halifax Regional Municipality and officials in Shelburne estimate about 50 homes have been destroyed, though a fulsome assessment of damage in the area has not been completed.
The premier thanked New Brunswick, P.E.I., Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario Friday for providing equipment and or firefighters to work alongside Nova Scotia’s many firefighting crews.
“It means so much. The national system of provinces helping provinces is working,” Houston said.
As well, the premier says more than 140 volunteer firefighters within Nova Scotia have signed up to join the frontlines and the province is working on the process of “mobilizing” this group to join the firefighting efforts in the coming days.
More international help is also on the way, with 60 firefighters from Costa Rica and 35 firefighters from New England set to arrive shortly, Houston said.
The premier said he’s also pleased to see the federal government is “starting to move” on providing support to the province.
The premier shared Wednesday an extensive list of requests for support to the federal government, that include military firefighting crew, a variety of equipment, helicopters to drop water, and 50 per cent cost-sharing for modular housing units for those who have lost their homes to the fire.
“We’ve lost a lot of homes, and we’re already in a housing crisis,” Houston said. “We know the issue is significant, we’ll work with our municipal partners and get through this.”
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Police investigating shooting outside of Drake's Bridle Path mansion: source
Toronto police are investigating a shooting that took place outside of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion early Tuesday morning, a source tells CP24.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
3 Indian nationals accused of murdering Hardeep Singh Nijjar facing court in B.C.
Three Indian nationals accused of murdering Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar are due to face court Tuesday over the killing that triggered a major diplomatic rift with India.
Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza's vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife's edge.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
Highlights from the 2024 Met Gala exhibit: Sleeping Beauty would wake up for these gowns
Sure, she was a royal princess and all. But there’s no way Sleeping Beauty — either before or after her nap — ever had quite the fabulous wardrobe that’s been assembled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Noelia Voigt resigns as Miss USA, citing her mental health
Noelia Voigt, who was crowned Miss USA in November 2023, has announced she is resigning from her role, saying the decision is in the best interest of her mental health.