Patrick MacLennan with the Department of Natural Resources carries a cat rescued from the evacuated zone of the wildfire burning in Tantallon, N.S. outside of Halifax on Monday, May 29, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
HALIFAX – Fire officials in Nova Scotia say the uncontained wildfire in suburban Halifax remained stable overnight, but they warned the return of dry, windy conditions today could lead to a “reburn” in evacuated subdivisions.
Halifax deputy fire Chief David Meldrum told a news conference that firefighters spent the night extinguishing hot spots in neighbourhoods where 200 homes and structures have been damaged since the fire started Sunday.
Since then, about 16,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes, most of them about a 30-minute drive northwest of the port city’s downtown.
With today’s weather forecast calling for southwesterly winds gusting at 30 kilometres per hour, the concern is that the eight-square-kilometre fire will retrace its original route and set fire to what hasn’t already burned.
David Steeves, a forest resources technician with Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources, says trees and other flammable materials in the affected subdivisions have been “cured” by extreme heat, which means they will readily ignite if the fire returns.
As well, the extended forecast is calling for hotter weather on Wednesday and no rain until Friday at the earliest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2023.
