Homes evacuated as crews battle wildfire in Shelburne County
Eyewitness says fire started near Little Harbour Lake and grew rapidly
A wildfire burning out of control in Shelburne County has forced the evacuation of several homes in the area of Little Harbour, N.S.
The provincial Department of Natural Resources and Renewables tweeted Monday morning that the blaze — which started Sunday afternoon about 40 kilometres southeast of Shelburne — is still out of control and 25 per cent contained.
The department says it's estimated to be about 56.5 hectares in size and there have been no reports of structural damage. Previously the department said the fire was about 10 hectares.
"The wildfire has not grown since the last update. The original size estimate was done with a lot of smoke in the area, which made it difficult to measure accurately," the department said in a tweet at 12:26 p.m. AT.
A subsequent tweet at 6:18 p.m. AT said two helicopters are on site, as well as 31 department staff and 23 volunteer firefighters. The department said unless there is a major change, it would share its next update Tuesday morning.
An RCMP spokesperson said Sunday about seven or eight homes in the area had been evacuated.
The spokesperson said traffic was being controlled and no one was being allowed into the area.
Little Harbour Fire Department Chief Dale Richardson said crews would be watching the winds closely on Monday as they are expected to pick up
"We will try to completely contain it today, and the earlier the better, because conditions are severely dry. It's unbelievable how dry conditions are," Richardson said in an interview.
He said the fire came within several feet of a few buildings, and there may have been some "blistering of paint" but that has been the extent of the damage.
Laura McLauchlan was forced to leave her home on West Sable Road on Sunday. She said she was walking her dogs on Louis Head Beach when she noticed fire a short distance away.
"It was very scary," said McLauchlan. "It's an education to me, how fast fire moves."
Nancy Lawrence lives at her son's home on West Sable Road. She said the fire was "right across from the driveway" yesterday. An aerial photo from Natural Resources showed the fire destroyed everything around the home, but not the home itself.
"I accidentally left two windows open, so there's a lot of smoke in the house. It's not choking smoke, but it's enough smoke that I've got to do a good cleaning anyway once I'm able to get in there," Lawrence said.
Lawrence said she feels lucky.
"Nobody can believe that the house is still standing," she said.
A burn ban is in place Monday until 2 p.m. AT for all regions in the province.
It's the second wildfire crews with the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables have been battling in as many weeks.
A fire that broke out early last week southeast of Weymouth, N.S., grew to roughly 119 hectares, but was under control by Friday evening.
With files from Aly Thomson, Paul Palmeter
