Barrington Lake wildfire 'being held,' not expected to move weather permitting
A record-size wildfire in Shelburne County, N.S., isn’t likely to move if conditions don't change, officials say.
The nearly 25,000-hectare Barrington Lake fire is still out of control but classified as “being held,” the municipality said Tuesday night. It’s the largest of the five active wildfires in Nova Scotia, and about 140 DNRR firefighters and 40 volunteer and municipal firefighters are on the scene.
The province says 150 structures in Shelburne County are destroyed -- about 60 of them houses or cottages. About 5,500 people left their homes at the height of evacuations, including Barry Doane.
Fire burned through his home, cottage, and almost everything he owned.
“It’s devastating,” Doane said. “I usually break out in tears most of the time just talking about it. Just one wrong word and it just kind of brings out tears.”
He ran to safety with his cat and a suitcase.
The craftsman’s house and cottage aren’t insured but even if they were, so much was irreplaceable.
“It’s hard to imagine what I lost. My father was an artist. He did beautiful paintings and I never took none of them, none of that stuff.”
The province says reentry into evacuated areas will hinge on progress made in an ongoing investigation into the wildfire.
Dave Rockwood with Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources and Renewables told CTV News Tuesday that firefighters are having a much better week so far compared to the previous one.
“With the rain over the weekend, it’s calmed down quite a bit and we’re able to get in and do a direct attack, get our crews in the woods and really start digging this,” Rockwood said.
The Shelburne area has seen about 95 millimetres of rain since Friday.
Now, firefighters in the area are hoping for a pause in the rainy weather.
“Oddly enough, now we need the weather to break and give us a bit of a clear sky,” Rockwood said.
“Last week we were definitely praying for the rain… now we really need to be able to get up and get our aircraft in the air and start moving some people around by aircraft, get them into these more remote locations, we need to get back into those spots.”
Rockwood said in addition to using infrared scans and rotary wing aircraft, firefighters are doing something called “cold trailing.”
The “old fashioned” firefighting tactic involves the crew removing their gloves and touching the ground and trees to find hotspots.
“The crews are using all their senses out there to try and track down those little last sparks and embers that are out there,” Rockwood said.
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada Disability Benefit needs to be safeguarded from clawbacks, MPs unanimously agree
The federal government needs to safeguard the incoming Canada Disability Benefit from clawbacks and do more to ensure it actually meets the stated aim of lifting people living with disabilities out of poverty, MPs from all parties agree.
Security guard shot, seriously injured outside of Drake's Toronto mansion
A security guard working at Drake’s Bridle Path mansion in Toronto was seriously injured in a shooting outside the residence early Tuesday morning, police said.
King Charles too busy to see son Prince Harry during U.K. trip
Prince Harry will not be seeing his father King Charles during his current visit to Britain as the monarch will be too busy, Harry's spokesperson said on Tuesday.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Turfing Poilievre from House a clear sign of desperation by Trudeau Liberals
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca
Your body needs these three forms of movement every week
Movement is movement, right? Not exactly. Here’s what your body is looking for in addition to your morning walk or yoga session, according to experts.
Six Canadian children repatriated from detention in Syria, Global Affairs Canada says
The Global Affairs Department says six Canadian children have been repatriated from detention in northeastern Syria.
'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.
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.
TikTok, ByteDance sue to block U.S. law seeking sale or ban of app
TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance said on Tuesday they filed suit in U.S. federal court seeking to block a law signed by President Joe Biden that would force the divestiture of the short video app used by 170 million Americans or ban its use.