'It was our dream home': Mother of four loses house in Tantallon wildfire
Amanda Dowding spent Thursday afternoon filling an empty home in Head of Saint Margarets Bay, N.S., with donated household items.
“She just wants everything here so we can figure out what she has and what items we have collected,” said Dowding.
Everything will go to assist Renee Hynes and her four children, who have lost everything in the wild fires.
Hynes lived in Tantallon home for eight years.
“It was our dream home,” said Hynes.
On Sunday, with the fires raging out of control, her family was forced to make a quick escape.
“Literally two of my children left with no shoes on their feet,” said Hynes.
Later in the week, Hynes was allowed to go back to pick up medication.
But when she arrived, she said out loud, “I don’t see our house for the trees.”
Fire had destroyed everything. Her family home was gone.
“There were just no words,” said Hynes.
The Hynes family is now on the receiving end of an outpouring of community kindness.
Friends are allowing her to use an empty house.
Beds, clothing, TVs, food, and all essential items are being dropped off on a daily basis.
“It is all adding up to make like a huge impact on people like my family,” said Hynes.
At the Emergency Evacuation Centre in Halifax, Ancel Langille from the Red Cross sees people every day who are isolated, living in fear, wondering when and if they'll be able to go home.
“Sleeping on a cot is not like sleeping in your own bed with your own surroundings,” said Langille. “People are getting really tired as well.”
As Hynes adapts to the new realities of her life, she has growing anxiety that these fires could spread further.
“I was behind a car, and the driver just chucked out his cigarette butt, which was still going,” said Hynes. “And it was on the side of the road and into the grass.”
She was horrified, and is encouraging people to be careful and to obey the burning ban so others won’t experience the same level of loss that her family has suffered.
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Bob Cole, veteran CBC broadcaster and former voice of 'Hockey Night in Canada,' dead at 90
Bob Cole, legendary CBC broadcaster and former voice of Hockey Night in Canada, has died. He was 90.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.