Global Courant 2023-05-31 09:06:16
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — A wildfire on Canada’s Atlantic coast damaged about 200 homes and other structures and led to the evacuation of 16,000 people, many of whom were eager to return on Tuesday to see if homes and pets had survived.
Firefighters worked through the night to put out the blazes that started Sunday in the Halifax area, Halifax deputy fire chief David Meldrum said. He said it was too early to give an exact number of houses destroyed, but the city council estimated the toll at about 200 buildings.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston announced that starting at 4 p.m. local time, the province will ban all travel and activities in all forested areas. The ban applies to all forestry, mining, hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, driving off-road vehicles and all commercial activities on government lands.
“We are in a very serious situation in this province and we must take the steps we can to protect Nova Scotia,” he told a news conference via video call from Shelburne, Nova Scotia, which has the province’s largest wildfire. occurred. burning since the weekend.
“I wanted to get an idea of the damage here,” said the prime minister. “It’s extensive. It’s heartbreaking.”
Dan Cavanaugh was one of two dozen people waiting in a parking lot near Halifax on Tuesday to hear if their suburban homes had been consumed by the wildfire.
“We are like everyone else in this party,” said the 48-year-old insurance expert. “We’re not sure if we have a home to go back to or how much damage is done.”
Police officers wrote down residents’ names and called people to be escorted to see what had become of their property.
Sarah Lyon of the Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said an eight-person team was preparing to enter the evacuation zone to collect any animals left behind.
A total of about 16,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes northwest of Halifax, most of them within a 30-minute drive of the center of the port city. The area under mandatory evacuation orders covers about 100 square kilometers (38 mi).
Sonya Higgins said she and more than 40 others waited in a nearby supermarket parking lot to be directed to the evacuation area, hoping to retrieve seven cats from two homes.
Higgins runs a cat rescue in Halifax, and she says the pet owners who contact her are “frantic” to find their animals and get them to a safe place.
Earlier in the day, firefighters said with the return of dry, windy conditions on Tuesday, there could be a “reburn” in the evacuated subdivisions.
The extended forecast calls for warmer weather on Wednesday and no rain on Friday at the earliest.
