Wind fuels spread of Shelburne County fire as evacuation area grows
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The historic fire that has been burning out of control for nearly a week near Barrington Lake in Nova Scotia's southwestern region continues to grow.
The evacuation zone got larger on Friday afternoon with the addition of 2461 Upper Clyde Road to McGills Road.
Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Dave Rockwood, who is based at the command post in Shelburne County, told reporters in a Friday afternoon update that the fire is now estimated at 22,766 hectares, up from 21,515 reported just over an hour earlier.
On CBC's Mainstreet, he said winds in the last few hours have caused rapid growth of the fire.
"We're watching it. We're maintaining it, ... but as a precaution, the municipality has issued the extension on the evacuation order," Rockwood said.
He added that teams are now running several different scenarios to estimate how the weather may affect the fire's behaviour.
Rockwood said the weather needs to change to help the fire team on the ground.
"It's been a rough week," he said. "We're really optimistic. We just need that rain to come to fruition. The best meteorological report can change on a heartbeat."
During an earlier news update, he warned that residents should stay out of the fire areas and evacuation zones.
"We've had many occasions that they [hindered and stopped] our operations from our airships," Rockwood said. "They cannot drop if you are in our area, and, I'm going to be straightforward, we have lost structures because of a number of these incidents where we've had to stop our aircraft from dropping."
There are nine department staff in the area working to get information on structure damaged, he said on Mainstreet.
"We know it's been a long, drawn out operation and we don't want to prolong that any longer than we have to but we've just we have to do it in a safe manner," he said. "When those aircraft come in, we can't even have our people in there, we have to pull them out of the area.... It's dropping a lot of weight down and ... their drops break trees in half."
He also said the flame retardants that are used in some of the drops aren't designed for human contact.
Rockwood said the eight water bombers that were sent to the province from New Brunswick had to be called back to deal with fires in their home province.
Forests are particularly vulnerable to fire this time of year, during what Rockwood called the "spring dip."
"That's when the last bit of the moisture has been pushed down into the root system of these trees, so there is no moisture in the portions above ground. Everything is bone dry."
May was also very dry in the area, with less than 10 millimetres reported in Shelburne since May 2. Rockwood added that western Nova Scotia hasn't received had enough precipitation in the last five years.
"Throw on top of the fact that these fires have gone through once, dried them out even more so now ... it's a tinderbox," Rockwood said.
To help with their efforts, Rockwood said three water bombers are on their way from Montana, marking the first time the state has sent the planes to the province.
Darrell Locke, the fire chief of the Shelburne Volunteer Fire Department, said firefighting crews are doing their utmost to save people's homes.
"We've gotten pushed out of situations for safety reasons that we've had to basically quickly unhook the hose from our trucks and run for our lives," he said.
Locke has been in the firefighting business for 48 years. He says he's never seen anything like the fires in Shelburne County.
"This is nothing anybody down this way has seen before," he said. "This is nothing Nova Scotia has seen before.… It looks horrible in lots of places. Folks have lost everything."
As of Thursday afternoon, about 3,200 homes had been evacuated, displacing 6,700 people — roughly half of Shelburne County's population.
Barrington Lake fire
About 90 personnel from the Department of Natural Resources were on the scene of the fire near Barrington Lake on Friday, as well as more than 40 from volunteer and municipal departments.
There are five helicopters fighting the blaze, as well as one water bomber from Newfoundland and Labrador.
Municipality of Barrington CAO Chris Frotten said the wind is expected to shift the fire toward the community of Barrington late Friday afternoon, but he does not anticipate an evacuation order.
Frotten said fire guards — bulldozed areas that act as buffers — have been put in place around the municipality, and surrounding trees have been doused.
On Thursday, Frotten and Warden Eddie Nickerson asked residents to be prepared to leave on short notice, urging them to pack a bag, get prescriptions filled, make arrangements for pets and plan a travel route.
Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for all communities from Port Clyde through to Baccaro and along Highway 309 to the intersection of Oak Park Road and Highway 3 in Barrington West, and from 800 Upper Clyde Rd. to 2461 Upper Clyde Rd. That was extended Friday.
Residents of Barrington who have been evacuated, or anyone seeking information related to the fire, can call 902-637-7899.
Residents of the Municipality of the District of Shelburne who have left their homes are asked to check in with the municipal office at 902-875-3544, extension 245, to let officials know they are safe and out of the fire zone. Anyone who needs help with the evacuation can call 902-875-8407.
Fire near town of Shelburne
The fire that broke out Wednesday near the town of Shelburne is reported to be 114 hectares on Friday, down slightly from Thursday's estimate of 120.
Fifteen firefighters from DNR are on the scene of that fire, near Lake Road. The fire is within a kilometre or two of the town.
A mandatory evacuation order for civic addresses 1518 Lake Rd., through to Jordan Bay, and from 674 Sandy Point Rd., through Lower Sandy Point, Jordan Bay, and Jordan Ferry to the Jordan Branch Road. Jordan Branch Road remains open.
To exit the Sandy Point Peninsula, residents are advised to exit through Sandy Point to avoid heavy smoke conditions through to Jordan Ferry.
There is an evacuation recommendation in place for 243 Sandy Point Rd. to 650 Sandy Point Rd., including Roseway Park, School Street, Commission Street, Harbourside Landing, Mayflower Road (the old boys' school), Shelburne Diesel, Shelburne Ship Repair, Ven-Rez, Bill Harris Transport, Coastal Trails, Adamant Drive, and Lake Road up to civic address 1536.
Evacuees were asked to register with the Canadian Red Cross at 1-800-863-6582.
Patients were evacuated from Roseway Hospital in Shelburne, according to Nova Scotia Health, and the site is closed.
Fifteen patients have been transferred to South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater and Fishermen's Memorial Hospital in Lunenburg. Others were transferred to hospitals both inside and outside the western zone or discharged.
Nova Scotia Health also announced that the Roseway Hospital emergency department will be closed and services at the site will be cancelled until further notice.
Nova Scotia Health issued a public advisory Thursday listing locations for non-urgent health care and mental health and wellness support for people in the area displaced by the fires.
Shelburne Family Practice is offering telephone appointments. To book, call: 902-637-1278.
Mobile Primary Care Clinic, 63 King St., Shelburne Community Centre is offering drop-in appointments from June 2-5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Barrington Comfort Centre at Sandy Wickens Memorial Arena, 12 Park Lane will have mental health and addictions staff from June 1 to 5, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Mobile Primary Care Clinic, Harbour South Medical Centre, 235 Main St., Yarmouth for mild or moderate health concerns on June 1, 15 and 29 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Barrington Health Centre has temporarily increased its blood collection hours to support Shelburne County patients
The Roseway Manor nursing home has also been evacuated, and a mandatory evacuation order for east of 2794 Highway 3, Barrington, is in effect, which includes all of Oak Park Road and Factory Hill Road until the Shelburne County line.
Yarmouth County fire
A wildfire burning east of Lower East Pubnico in neighbouring Yarmouth County is still burning out of control. It is an estimated 138 hectares.
DNR said Friday 20 firefighters from the department are on scene as well five firefighters from volunteer and municipal forces.
"I'm getting a whole lot of hope out of looking at that one," Rockwood said Friday. "That's a sign that our crews have actually been able to walk around that perimeter."
Rockwood said Thursday afternoon firefighters were able to save two structures in the area, stopping the fire within just 20 centimetres of the buildings.
Evacuation and comfort centres
Several centres have been set up to provide safe places for evacuees:
Shelburne Community Centre: 63 King St., Shelburne.
Sandy Wickens Memorial Arena: 12 Park Lane, Barrington.
Yarmouth Fire Hall: 221 Pleasant St., Yarmouth.
Canada Games Centre: 26 Thomas Raddall Drive, Halifax.
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