Halifax-area evacuees visit destroyed homes for first time as wildfire burns for 5th day
Aly Thomson, Anjuli Patil | CBC | Posted: June 2, 2023 10:56 AM | Last Updated: June 2, 2023
Bus tour drove through devastation in Upper Tantallon, Hammonds Plains, Pockwock
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Residents whose homes have been damaged or destroyed in a wildfire that continues to burn outside Halifax were given the chance to see their properties Friday on bus tours of the charred landscape.
In an email sent to the affected residents by the Halifax Regional Municipality's emergency management office shortly after 8 p.m. AT Thursday, officials said the tour of some 200 homes would leave from the Canada Games Centre in Halifax at 11 a.m.
"Unfortunately, you will not be able to leave the bus to walk around your property," it said.
The email, which was provided to CBC News by a resident who lost their home, said staff would be on hand at the Canada Games Centre after the tour to answer questions and offer support.
Viewing the damage
Dozens of people gathered at the Canada Games Centre on Friday to take part in the tour on city buses.
Speaking to reporters after the two-hour drive through their neighbourhood, Mary and Jason Young from Highland Park said they had already seen that their home was destroyed on video but it was important for them to see it in person.
"It's one thing to see it on a screen but it's another to see it in real life right in front of you," Mary Young said.
"It helps you move on. It helps you make it real and deal with it. It really is like you're grieving."
Jason Young said it was a difficult experience but it was better that they went as a group with neighbours.
Young said he and his family got out in time with their pets but it was heartbreaking that many people were not so fortunate and lost pets.
Claude Langlois lost his home on Kata Court in the Highland Park subdivision.
Speaking before the tour, he said he was not home when the blaze broke out mid-Sunday afternoon in nearby Westwood Hills subdivision — roughly 25 kilometres outside Halifax — and could not get back in time to retrieve his double-doodle dog named Bear.
He was informed by police on Monday morning that his house had burned to the ground, and that Bear was likely dead.
Langlois said he'd seen videos of the rubble, so he knew what to expect, but he thinks seeing his house in person would help with the grieving process.
"Everything that makes it more real, it helps with the grief of it all," said Langlois, who is staying at a hotel in Halifax.
Still, he has not been happy with the communication from the municipality during this trying time.
"They were not there for us," he said.
Bill Moore, the municipality's executive director of community safety, said during a press conference Friday that residents had voiced concerns about how they were informed — a mass email — about how they would see their homes for the first time since the evacuation.
Moore said they had still not been able to contact 65 of the affected residents. He said it was decided an email was the best form of communication in the hopes that if some residents who have not yet been contacted saw it, they could join the tour.
"We thought it would be potentially worse than if they found out that they didn't get a call and then they found out that they didn't have an opportunity to go to the scene," said Moore, adding that the email did generate some replies and staff are following up.
"We regret the fact … that caused any more pain to those who have already been affected, but ... I give you my word that we will do our very best to try to keep people up to date."
Some residents allowed to return
Some residents who had to leave their homes because of the wildfire have been given the green light to go back.
Just after 4 p.m. Friday, an emergency alert stated the evacuation order was rescinded for the Lucasville Road area, a section south of Hammonds Plains Road around St. George Boulevard, and the Stillwater Lake area south of Pine Tree Crescent.
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Corrections:- A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that two people were issued $25,000 fines, based on information given by the RCMP. In fact, no one has been given a $25,000 fine June 2, 2023 4:33 PM