Photographer gets close to fire near Kejimkujik National Park

Halifax photographer Shaun Lowe got a close look at the work going into extinguishing the forest fire near 
Kejimkujik National Park at Seven Mile Lake this week.

He spent a few hours near the crews are battling the 395-hectares fire Thursday afternoon after making arrangements with the Department of Natural Resources.

Crews were working on building a fire break and a helicopter was dumping water on hot spots. 

"It was very dry, very hot," said Lowe, who owns Shaun Lowe Photographic and shoots photos for iStock and Getty Images. 

"I actually felt some of the spray off the [helicopter's] water bucket."

'Massive in comparison'

​Lowe gets to pick and choose what he shoots and said the Seven Mile Lake fire was "too big to ignore." He took his pictures set up along Trunk 8, where he saw flame flare ups in the hot spots.

He's been taking photos full time for nearly 10 years and is no stranger to wildfires. He shot the 2009 Halifax wildfire that forced 1,200 people out of their homes.

The Seven Mile Lake fire was "massive in comparison," he said.

"When you see the burnt landscape up close, it all looks the same. It's just horrible to see everything just burnt to a crisp." 

A 'stark contrast'

After taking pictures of the fire, he went into the national park, where many campers had already packed up and left.

"It was a such a stark contrast from going to the fire to pristine Keji where deer are popping out of the woods everywhere and you have this beautiful landscape in front of you," said Lowe.