Forest fires burning out of control near Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia

3rd fire near Greenfield, N.S., is contained

By Rachel Ward, CBC News Posted: Aug 05, 2016 5:26 PM AT Last Updated: Aug 05, 2016 9:05 PM AT

 

Crews are fighting three forest fires in western Nova Scotia, two of which are burning out of control.

One of the fires burning out of control is near Kejimkujik National Park, across Highway 8 near Maitland Bridge, N.S., said Jim Rudderham, the provincial Department of Natural Resources' forest protection operations manager.

However the park is not in danger yet because the wind is blowing away from it, he said. About 10 hectares of Crown land were on fire as of 7:45 p.m. AT, he said.

"It's burning deep and it's burning fast," Rudderham said Friday afternoon. "They can't get ahead of it."

No buildings are at risk from any of the three fires, all of which started Thursday evening, he said.

6 water bombers

The other fire that is burning out of control is near Seven Mile Lake, up Highway 8 from Maitland Bridge, toward Annapolis Royal. That was covering 30 hectares at 7:45 p.m.

"Our guys have been too busy to measure them. It's not been safe to walk around the fires at this point, " Rudderham said.

Six water bombers from New Brunswick are fighting the two fires in Annapolis County, along with one DNR helicopter and another from private contractor Vision Air, a Goffs, N.S.-based business.

No buildings at risk

The third fire, about 4.6 hectares in size, is near Greenfield in Queens County, and is under control.

Two helicopters and more than 30 people are on scene controlling the fire, Rudderham said.

Weather dry and hot

Highway 8 near Maitland Bridge is closed.

Power lines in the area are shut off because of the water bombers, Rudderham said.

"It's a beautiful day outside: low [humidity], high winds and high temperatures," he said. "Beautiful day for the beach, but not for fighting fires."

Campfire ban in most of Nova Scotia

Rudderham is asking the public to be extra careful spending time in Nova Scotia forests over the next few weeks, due to dry conditions. 

"Right now, if we had extra fire starts, we'd be very taxed to our limits for sure," he said.

"We have more resources, but we want to concentrate them on getting these fires contained and controlled, and then work on putting them out."

As of Friday at 6 p.m., brush burning and campfire are banned across most of Nova Scotia.