Hurricane Erin’s winds bring fears of wildfire growth to Annapolis County

CITYnews halifax / By Natasha O’Neill

Officials are staring down the end of the week when they believe the fire conditions will worsen in Annapolis County.

At a press conference, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) experts warned that the wildfire is expected to grow in the next several days. The most up-to-date information provided by department meteorologists suggests that Aug. 22 will be a difficult day for crews.

“Friday seems to be kind of the line in the sand, but we’re doing our best to plan for every operational period,” Dave Steeves, public information officer with DNR, said.

Officials are concerned about how approaching Hurricane Erin, which is not set to impact the province precipitation-wise, will increase wind speeds and patterns.

Scott Tingley said in his 20 years of experience, officials have never had to monitor a hurricane and wildfire at the same time.

“I guess one benefit with a system is we’ve had quite an advanced notice…We’ve had the advantage of multiple days to prepare,” he said. “There is certainly potential for growth of that fire given the wind patterns that are going to be coming on the weekend.”

The days leading up to Erin’s approach, Steeves noted that crews have done fast work to create even more of a buffer between the blaze and buildings in West Dalhousie. Already, 100 homes are within an evacuation zone.

The Long Lake wildfire complex has paused its growth over the last day, and is estimated to be 3,210 hectares.

“We’re looking at this situation very seriously from every possible angle, to put contingency plans in place and ensure the safety of everybody on the ground,” he said.

‘Everyone on the same page’

The battle against this wildfire has been ongoing for about a week, with hard days ahead as the hot weather returns.

But despite the difficult conditions, Steeves said morale is good amongst those on the front lines.

“There’s there’s lots of hard work to do, but the attitude seems very positive,” he said.

According to him, there has been a lot of communication between agencies, and the multiple plans of action have kept everyone on the same page with how to best attack the wildfire.

On Wednesday, there are 52 DNR firefighters, 22 from Ontario and 39 local members. Four planes from the Northwest Territories and a helicopter are dousing flames.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan — two provinces that have been ravaged by wildfires since early this summer — are sending planes and helicopters. More crews from Ontario are also expected to arrive at the fire by Wednesday evening.

“I feel like we’re in a really good spot moving forward,” Steeves said. “We just have some issues in the road that we’re going to prepare and do our very best to tackle.”