Long Lake wildfire jumped road as crews put sprinklers around homes

CITYnews halifax / By Natasha O’Neill and Dan Ahlstrand

A wildfire in Annapolis County is surrounding several homes on Monday afternoon as officials confirmed it jumped the roadway.

Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said in an update Monday afternoon, the fire now covers approximately 3,210 hectares, larger than the Bedford Basin. Jim Rudderham, Director of Fleet and Forest Protection at DNR, explained the large jump from 2,000 hectares to 3,000 overnight is because crews weren’t able to accurately measure the perimeter until the smoke dissipated.

The wildfire has been growing significantly in the last several days as drought conditions have allowed it to burn its way through the forest surrounding the community. Crews confirmed it has advanced past one section of West Dalhousie Road, but no structures other than a “few” trailers and campers have been lost.

Rudderham emphasized that the reason this fire has grown so quickly is because of the fuel on the ground helping the blaze increase.

“It’s creating it so, so much heat and moving so quickly it just keeps kind of rolling along,” he said in a press conference.

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• ‘Extreme fire behaviour’ in West Dalhousie with homes evacuated

Firefighting efforts have so far prevented any damage to homes in the area. Using hoses and portable pumps crews have been able to mitigate any fire damage to the houses in the fire perimeter, officials confirmed on Aug. 18, by using sprinklers to douse the home and areas around it.

“It’s a relatively new tactic for us here, but it’s pretty impressive and certainly we hope that it remains as effective going forward,” Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection with DNR, said.

The wildfire has forced the evacuation of approximately 100 homes.

There are 93 Nova Scotia DNR firefighters on scene, along with 22 from Ontario, five from Prince Edward Island and 15 local firefighters.

Four CL-802 skimmer aircraft from the Northwest Territories are on the fire again this morning after being diverted Sunday to assist with a separate blaze in Digby County. Two contracted helicopters are also present.

The aircraft are dedicated to knocking down new starts to get them under control quickly.

Winds a concern but forecast is favourable

Due to a wind shift, the department is telling people in other parts of the province they may smell smoke, but should confirm before reporting a fire in their community.

The shift in winds on Monday forced the fire to grow away from more homes along West Dalhousie Road. This has been a “favourable” moment for firefighters, officials said.

“South winds give us the most concern, and that’s where again the structural protection tactics were put in place,” Tingley said.

Ideally, firefighters hope for no wind, because any direction can support the growth of the blaze, he explained.

“Low wind is ideal, but north winds are favourable for the objectives right now of protecting the community and the valleys of risk north of the fire,” Tingley said.

Allister Aalders, 95.7’s weather specialist, said even with Hurricane Erin passing by the province, the winds will change from the storm.

“They will be east and then north-easterly with the center of Erin and going by,” he said.

The hurricane is expected to track into Canadian waters by the end of the week, but it won’t have any impact on the province. Aalders said for the rest of the week, the winds are expected to come from the north in West Dalhousie.

On Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of Erin’s approach, winds will be lighter, but they can change direction often.

A contracted helicopter moves toward the Long Lake wildfires complex, gathering intelligence and guiding other contracted helicopters on where to drop water. (Province of Nova Scotia)