'We just wanted to feel like we had a home': Some Halifax wildfire victims choosing not to rebuild

As the year winds down, it seems some of the wildfire victims in the Halifax-area have chosen not to rebuild.

Most had vowed to stay after the smoke cleared, but months later, delays and frustrations have some cutting their losses and moving on.

“After being in five different rentals and feeling so displaced, we started to look for a house,” Amy Fletcher, a Highland Park property owner, told CTV News Monday.

“We just wanted to feel like we had a home.”

She and her family purchased a new home in Boutiliers Point and are settling in nicely.

Fletcher says there were growing disputes with the insurance company and disheartening news from the contractor they had been dealing with.

“When we spoke to the builder, he said, ‘I’m going to be transparent with you. It’s going to be two-and-a-half years.’ We already felt so displaced, we didn’t want to wait that long,” said Fletcher.

Work crews have been a familiar sight all over Hammonds Plains and Upper Tantallon, and likely will be the foreseeable future.

With more than 150 homes lost during the June wildfires, there's much to rebuild.

A backlog in insurance claims and heavy demand for construction crews aren’t helping, but the intention is there.

“Yeah, we’re coming back. A lot of people are picking up the pieces and moving on,” said area resident Brett Marrin.

“There’s some people that aren’t back in the homes yet - who still have homes. Those of us who have homes, most of us are back in, and we’re just trying to support those around who need the support right now,” he said.

Hammonds Plains - St. Margaret's councillor Pam Lovelace says she understands the frustration, but there are other factors at play.

“Obviously, the insurance industry is upended: Not only did they have the wildfire and the flood, hurricanes and so one and so forth, we just don’t have enough individuals in the insurance industry here in Nova Scotia to be able to respond quickly,” said Lovelace, adding she’s been disappointed with support offered by the province so far.

“We heard the announcement this morning: $1B dollars for housing. We've got 151 families that need support from the provincial government to be able to get back into their homes, to have their homes built. It’s extremely frustrating for these families to be left behind,” she said.

“I don't blame people for not wanted to wait - I completely understand. This is heart-wrenching for these families. This is a very difficult decision to make: ‘do we wait, or do we go?’ Obviously, everyone's circumstance is different, but they have to rebuild their lives.”

Fletcher says the family has slowly come to terms with the losses.

“It’s a lot less surreal than it was,” she said.

“It’s still sad. Things hit you after the fact. Sentimental things. The rest of it is just stuff.”

They’ve also come to terms with not returning to Hammonds Plains.

“It was home for the last ten years, but the new house that we got, we’ve already fallen in love, and we just think of it as a new start,” she said.

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