Wildfire near Barrington Lake, N.S., continues to grow
A sizeable wildfire is burning out of control in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia.
According to the province's Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, the wildfire is located near Barrington Lake and has grown to about 2,296 hectares in size.
Alex Atwood lives nearby on Cape Sable Island. Atwood says he first noticed the fire Friday from Highway 103 near Barrington and says the fire has grown significantly.
"It started back up today [Saturday], quite hard and has spread," said Atwood. "It was pretty alarming and it seems quite big, bigger than it might appear."
In a post to Twitter, DNRR says the hot, dry and windy conditions have been fueling the fire and the conditions are making it challenging for the firefighters.
Two helicopters, 35 DNRR crew members, 50 volunteer firefighters, an incident management team, and six N.B. air tankers are on site working to contain the fire.
“They’re trying to get a line around it like a forestry hose or bulldozer path. They won’t deem the fire contained until they have a good handle on the fire itself,” explained Kara McCurdy, Nova Scotia Natural Resources and Renewables wildfire prevention officer.
In a Sunday afternoon update, DNRR says local RCMP, along with EMO and the Canadian Red Cross, are assisting evacuees to a temporary shelter in Barrington's municipal building.
In an update from RCMP at 7:40 p.m., Highway 103 remains closed between exits 27 and 29.
Police are encouraging residents living on Highway 3 between Port Saxon and Birchtown to evacuate their homes. There is a mandatory evacuation order in effect for residents of Barrington Lake and Clyde River.
The community of Goose Lake is just one kilometre away from the fire but the province says no evacuation orders have been made at this time.
At least three remote cabins in the area have been impacted by the wildfire. One of the cabins is destroyed, DNRR says, while the status of the two others remains unknown. Volunteer firefighters are on scene in an effort to protect homes.
DNRR says residents from 12 homes were evacuated Saturday night. Some residents had returned Sunday morning. However, throughout the day the fire grew leaving the Nova Scotia Search and Rescue assisting with evacuating families living in the area.
Clyde River resident Alan Harris and his family had started barbecuing dinner when they were told to grab what they can and leave their home.
“When I got up this morning I heard that it had cleaned up even worse and now it’s heading toward the houses right now,” Harris explained. “I don’t think about as long as I’ve lived here in Clyde, ever seeing anything like this.”
According to McCurdy, the hot, dry and windy condition is making it challenging to contain the fire.
“We need rain and we mean significant rain sustained several days. Over 10 plus millimeters and as it sits right now there’s really nothing forecasted.”
There is currently a burn ban in place for that region and residents are encouraged to check the provinces website and adhere to the burning status where it applies.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.