Winds shift, driving fire towards West Dalhousie homes

Officials say the worst of the impacts from Hurricane Erin on the province’s wildfires are over and fared “better than we thought,” according to Jim Rudderham, Director of Fleet and Forest Protection with the province.

While not directly hit by the storm, the hurricane forced strong winds into inland Nova Scotia, contributing to the growth of the Long Lake fire complex. But the passing by tropical storm would provide no rain to the area.

Scott Tingley, Manager of Forest Protection, said in his 20 years of experience, officials have never had to monitor a wildfire and a hurricane simultaneously.

But the outcome was better than anticipated.

The size of the fire is now estimated to be 3,255 hectares, a growth of 45 hectares since Wednesday.

While growth has significantly slowed, compared to last week when the fire doubled in size, officials say it is still “out of control”.

Winds from Hurricane Erin came from the east and northeast, pushing the fire west, meaning the fire has not encroached any further on housing and businesses and there are no new evacuations at this time.

But in an update Saturday, Tingley said that could change as the winds shift again from the south and southwest which could push the fire up more north.

“Crews and the team are trying to mitigate any spread, any chance that that could spread to the north,” he said. “That’s the priority. Now is just mitigating and then protecting those at risk that are up along West Dalhousie Road.”

Currently 107 homes remain under evacuation order.

As of Sunday morning, the Bridgetown Fire Hall, located at 31 Bay Rd., is operating as a comfort centre for residents and evacuees. It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In an update Sunday morning, DNR said wind is pushing the fire to the West Dalhousie area where crews remained stationed. Fire growth is expected throughout the day.

There is currently an air quality advisory in effect for Annapolis County.

There are 62 firefighters from Ontario assigned to the fire, along with 52 natural resource firefighters, 44 members of volunteer fire departments and 43 Department of Natural Resources staff. There are 30 pieces of heavy equipment currently being used in firefighting efforts.

Crews from P.E.I. who were previously helping tackle the wildfire have returned home at the end of their contract.

Looking ahead in the forecast, there is some rain expected for Monday which could contribute to relief efforts.

That rain is not associated with the hurricane and officials are not yet sure how much rain can be expected.

“Nice, steady, gentle rain for a few days is what we’re after. But again, we’ll take it,” Rudderham said.

He said that even just 10 millimetres of rain could help support the crews efforts but prolonged rain is needed to make a significant direct impact on the fire’s size.

“After a week of the (2016 Seven Mile Lake fire), almost a week of that fire, we had a lot of rain come and help us out immensely,” Rudderham said. “So, we’re praying for the same on this fire. But it is an August fire, so they burn hot, and that makes everything that much harder to put out.”

Despite the challenge, Tingley said responding crews are keeping up morale.

“They’re doing important work. They’re they’re helping the community and Nova Scotians,” he said. “I think that’s a good feeling that’s helping them push through long days.”