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
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6940995.1719358769!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Things a pediatrician would never let their child do
As summer begins for most children around Canada, CTV News spoke with a number of pediatric health professionals about the best practices for raising kids, and how the profession has evolved since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Should he stay or should he go now? A look at Trudeau's options after byelection loss
A historic defeat for the Liberals in a downtown Toronto byelection has put a glaring question mark on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's political future. Here's a look at the options Trudeau and the Liberals face as they enter a summer of soul-searching.
Alabama man denied office after winning election reaches proposed settlement to become town's first Black mayor
An Alabama town and a Black man who was prevented from becoming its mayor after winning his 2020 election have reached a proposed settlement, according to federal court documents.
'Why did I have this surgery?' Ont. mother seeks answers after son's tonsil surgery
An Ontario mother said it looked like a horror movie when she flicked on the lights of her son’s bedroom to find him projectile vomiting blood after his tonsils were removed at McMaster Children’s Hospital.
New experience in Halifax gets people up close and personal to the ocean's most feared predator
Atlantic Shark Expeditions launched a new shark cage experience which gives brave attendees a chance to get up close and personal with the oceans most feared predator.
Many older adults are still taking daily aspirin, even though some shouldn't be, experts say
Some seniors continue to take a daily aspirin in the hopes of reducing their cardiovascular disease risk, even though the practice is only recommended for certain high-risk patients -- and taking it without a doctor's recommendation can come with significant risks.
Flatulent cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first
Denmark will tax livestock farmers for the greenhouse gases emitted by their cows, sheep and pigs from 2030, the first country in the world to do so as it targets a major source of methane emissions, one of the most potent gases contributing to global warming.
Ukraine's Zelenskyy scolds officials who shirk their duties in the country's war effort
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signalled Wednesday that he is getting tough on officials he suspects are shirking their duties in the war with Russia that is now in its third year.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returns to Australia a free man after U.S. legal battle ends
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to his homeland Australia aboard a charter jet on Wednesday, hours after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with U.S. Justice Department prosecutors that concludes a drawn-out legal saga.