Officials ‘confident’ wildfire in Kings County is human-caused

CITYnews halifax / By Natasha O’Neill

Before a wildfire in Kings County grew quickly out of control late Monday, officials were able to determine it is likely human-caused.

Firefighters descended on a populated area south of Morristown, N.S., for a growing blaze, prompting the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to evacuate a large swath of homes near Aylesford Road due to what officials are calling the Lake George wildfire.

Jim Rudderham, director of fleet and forest protection with DNR, updated media on Tuesday afternoon, saying that there has been no lightning in the area.

“Our conservation officers visited the area before activity picked up, but there was not enough evidence to determine the exact cause,” Rudderham said. “It is quite frustrating for us when this happens, but it happens quite often that we can’t hold anyone to account. We are confident it was human-caused.”

Just days earlier, the Province of Nova Scotia lifted its burn ban everywhere except in Annapolis County, where a separate wildfire is still burning. However, burning is still not allowed anywhere across the province from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. each day until the end of wildfire season Oct. 15.

There are 275 civic addresses under the Lake George evacuation order, including the following:

• North end of Aylesford Lake
• From Old Mill Lane, southwest to Simpson Cove Lane, and along both sides of North River Road, to Aylesford Lake Beach (at 580 North River Rd.)
• North River Road, including Simpsons Cove Lane, Aspen Drive, Loon Lane, Village Road and Yatch Club Road

There are an additional 56 addresses under an evacuation alert:

• Southwest end of Aylesford Lake, including Birch Lane, Spruce Drive and Blue Lane

Related:

• Mandatory evacuation order issued for parts of Kings County due to out-of-control wildfire
• The largest structure protection operation in Nova Scotia’s history

Officials warned that further evacuations are possible due to the rapidly changing situation. DNR said it is working with local fire crews on structure protection. Andrew Mitton, Department of Emergency Management, said there have been no structures lost. The fire perimeter is about two kilometres from the north end of Lake George as of Tuesday afternoon.

Evacuees can go to the Louis Millett Community Complex at 9489 Commercial St., New Minas.

Unusual weather for Nova Scotia this year

Deep drought conditions in the province continue to be a factor in this wildfire season, Rudderham said. According to him, most wildfire seasons finish in September because of the rain.

“Never in my history here have I seen this. It’s been quite a year,” he said. “Tomorrow is October and most of my experience in this province the rain starts in September and we’re pretty much done. So this is a new one for me.”

On Monday, crews from DNR responded to where the blaze broke out. Rudderham said they had the fire contained until the heat of the afternoon, and the wind ignited it rapidly.

“I know there is some soft wood there, which causes stuff to move a little quicker,” he explained. “This is a late summer fire in the drought. So these fires are burning deep, making it difficult to fully extinguish.”

Shorter days and cooler nights are helping crews, but rain would be the best thing, officials continue to say.

Rudderham mentioned the Long Lake wildfire, where crews are still trying to extinguish the blaze, but because the fire has burned deep, trees are falling over at the roots, creating challenges for the teams.

On Tuesday afternoon, the estimated size of the Lake George wildfire was 150 hectares, an increase from the 80 hectares experts believed it was around 5:00 p.m. when the first round of evacuations was triggered on Monday.

There are 23 firefighters from DNR, 20 local crew members, four planes from the Northwest Territories, four from Quebec, and one DNR and two contracted helicopters on the blaze.

This map was last updated at 9:16 p.m. on Sept. 29. Evacuation lines could be updated. Listen to local officials for real-time alerts. (Province of Nova Scotia)