CITYnews halifax: More than a new wildfire a day in N.S. as provincial helicopters take flight

CITYnews halifax / By Natasha O’Neill

In the last seven days, there have been nine new wildfires across Nova Scotia, the dashboard from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) shows.

As of July 15, there are three active fires, and to date crews have doused 101 blazes this year. The dashboard indicates 71.14 hectares has burned.

The season is starting to ramp up as the province brought on a new fleet of helicopters to help fight fires across Nova Scotia. The four H125s are “versatile,” the press release notes, and can help with fires, search and rescue, scientific research, and the transport of people and equipment.

After nearly 10,000 suggestions from the public, DNR announced the names of the new helicopters.

• Spirit of the Osprey
• Spirit of the Eagle
• Spirit of the Hawk
• Spirit of the Falcon

“These aircraft do serious work that keep Nova Scotians safe, especially during emergencies,” said Tory Rushton, Minister of Natural Resources.

One of the Province’s four new Airbus H125 helicopters.
(Province of Nova Scotia)

The helicopters were bought through a federal-provincial agreement for wildfire equipment. Both levels of government contributed $12.6 million.

Fighting fires from the skies

The aircraft are on top of the contracted four water bombers the province announced as wildfire season got underway this year.

The government said it has contracted four Air Tractor AT-802 water bombers and one Cessna Caravan Bird Dog until the end of September. That contract will be extended if need be.

The province said the $6.5 million contract is with Forest Protection Ltd. of New Brunswick. The five aircraft will be stationed at the Debert air tanker base in Colchester County.

The planes are expected to be on contract from May 1 through the end of September, with the province hiring three positions to support the temporary contract. Nova Scotia does not have its own fleet of water bombers, which means it relies on other provinces, like New Brunswick and Quebec.

Last year, there were a lot of questions to the government about its lack of fixed-wing water bombers as a wildfire threatened Halifax Regional Municipality, in Bayer’s Lake.