Fire crews tackling 2 Cape Breton fires
Cassidy Chisholm | CBC News | Posted: May 24, 2020 10:44 PM | Last Updated: May 24, 2020
Fires in Porters Lake and Chester Grant are now under control
Firefighters in Nova Scotia are battling two fires in Cape Breton Sunday evening, just hours after a large brush fire in Porters Lake was deemed under control.
Lands and Forestry firefighters and helicopters are responding to a fire near Big Pond in Cape Breton, which is about 40 kilometres southwest of Sydney. The East Bay Fire Department is also responding.
Crews are also responding to a nearby fire on Salmon River Road, east of Big Pond. The fire is covering an area of about 225 square feet, according to Lisa Jarrett, a spokesperson for the department.
A helicopter also responded to a fire at Big Indian Lake near St. Margaret's Bay on Sunday evening.
The fire was "suppressed" as of 7:45 p.m., according to a tweet by the department.
Earlier weekend fires under control, contained
Crews battled two other major blazes over the weekend.
A brush fire that started in Porters Lake on Saturday afternoon forced 1,000 people to leave their homes. The fire covered about 50 hectares of land.
As of 5:30 p.m. Sunday, the fire was deemed under control and is considered 60 per cent contained. The evacuation order was also lifted.
Firefighters are still in the area to watch for hotspots.
Another fire in Chester Grant that broke out on Friday covered about 27 hectares of land, burning two buildings to the ground.
As of Saturday afternoon, the fire was contained.
Provincial burn ban in place
A province-wide burn ban is currently in place.
Nova Scotia's Environment Minister Iain Rankin said brush fires are often caused by people, especially when the weather is hot and humid.
"There are no fires permitted at all right now at any region so we want to make sure that Nova Scotians know that they are taking a risk," Rankin said. "It puts the safety of their neighbours at risk when they do violate the provincial burn ban."
There's no word on how any of the weekend fires were started.
He said burn ban notices are updated on the province's website every day at 2 p.m. and residents should check before they burn.
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