Nova Scotia Forest Fires

[GO-NAD!]

For several days now, Nova Scotia has been experiencing some major forest fires, including the largest in our recorded history on the south shore. There is another near Halifax that swept though a subdivision and burned 150+ homes. That one started on Sunday, about 16km west of my house and with strong westerly winds advanced 8km in a day. It was over 30℃ and we've had a pretty dry spring, so conditions were ripe. We packed up our most valuable/important possessions and slept very poorly that night. The winds subsequently died down and changed direction, so the fire hasn't really advanced towards us since, but it is still considered out of control.

Water bombers and additional firefighters have come from Newfoundland and New Brunswick to help out, as our resources have been swamped.

Then, on Tuesday, another fire started about 2km west of our house. Homes in the immediate area of the fire were evacuated, but not our neighbourhood. We actually loaded up our vehicles that evening, just in case. Another sleepless night. I got the impression that everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at that fire, as the only thing separating it from the metro Halifax area is a 4-lane highway. With strong winds, that would not be much of an impediment. If it crossed the highway, it would be "Holy Fcuk!" disastrous. Anyway, by yesterday evening, they seemed to get that one cornered. We slept better last night.

We are getting a bit of smoke in our area, but it isn't too bad at the moment. The temperature is expected to get over 30℃ again today with the wind picking up speed, so it may give the fires a boost. There is a chance of some showers tomorrow and through the weekend. We need them.

I want to express my appreciation for the 100 firefighters coming up from the US to help us out. Two hundred from South Africa are going to Alberta, as they are having a bad start to the fire season, as well.

Firefighters from U.S., South Africa to battle Canada's 'unprecedented' fires | CityNews Halifax

 

[highfigh]

Good to see this- I would hate to see that the fire moves into your area.

 

[GO-NAD!]

This map indicates the smoke density and direction of travel. Interesting.

Smoke Forecast - FireSmoke.ca

 

[highfigh]

This map indicates the smoke density and direction of travel. Interesting.

Smoke Forecast - FireSmoke.ca

YouTube has videos of people driving through the smoke with flames along the roads- I never want to be in that situation and in one video, the car ahead stopped suddenly and until people recording were close enough to see the tail lights, they weren't much farther than 30' away and moving faster than a safe speed, IMO.

We have been getting a lot of smoke from Alberta- I haven't had respiratory issues but that caused problems for me- a lot of coughing and I couldn't breathe very deeply.

Be safe.

 

[Verdinut]

For several days now, Nova Scotia has been experiencing some major forest fires, including the largest in our recorded history on the south shore. There is another near Halifax that swept though a subdivision and burned 150+ homes. That one started on Sunday, about 16km west of my house and with strong westerly winds advanced 8km in a day. It was over 30℃ and we've had a pretty dry spring, so conditions were ripe. We packed up our most valuable/important possessions and slept very poorly that night. The winds subsequently died down and changed direction, so the fire hasn't really advanced towards us since, but it is still considered out of control.

Water bombers and additional firefighters have come from Newfoundland and New Brunswick to help out, as our resources have been swamped.

Then, on Tuesday, another fire started about 2km west of our house. Homes in the immediate area of the fire were evacuated, but not our neighbourhood. We actually loaded up our vehicles that evening, just in case. Another sleepless night. I got the impression that everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at that fire, as the only thing separating it from the metro Halifax area is a 4-lane highway. With strong winds, that would not be much of an impediment. If it crossed the highway, it would be "Holy Fcuk!" disastrous. Anyway, by yesterday evening, they seemed to get that one cornered. We slept better last night.

We are getting a bit of smoke in our area, but it isn't too bad at the moment. The temperature is expected to get over 30℃ again today with the wind picking up speed, so it may give the fires a boost. There is a chance of some showers tomorrow and through the weekend. We need them.

I want to express my appreciation for the 100 firefighters coming up from the US to help us out. Two hundred from South Africa are going to Alberta, as they are having a bad start to the fire season, as well.

Firefighters from U.S., South Africa to battle Canada's 'unprecedented' fires | CityNews Halifax

I hope that you get the showers that would surely help somehow. Keep safe.

 

[TLS Guy]

This map indicates the smoke density and direction of travel. Interesting.

Smoke Forecast - FireSmoke.ca

Forrest fires are scary. We have been suffering from the smoke from your western fires and have had three weeks or so of air quality alerts and the sky very smoky. Today is the first in quite some time, we have had good air quality here in Minnesota. As you can see the smoke from the western fires is going up over Hudson Bay instead of us in the US Mid West.

I had a taste seven years ago when were on Benedict Lake in the Paul Bunyan Forrest. All of a sudden, one windy afternoon the generator started, and one end of Lake Benedict was covered in thick black smoke. So I dialed in a 991 call. The authorities asked if I had actually seen flames, which I had not. So I had to jump into my 1948 CJ 2A Jeep and dash down the road half a mile and tell the authorities, yes, there were flames, and it was already a crown fire that had just jumped the road. I had no escape by road, so was preparing to get out by boat if need be. Fortunately there was a tanker full of fire retardant in Bemidji. The pilot did a low approach, and got a direct hit, and then the ground crew could get the upper hand. The cause was a power line downed by the wind.

If I had not been home, a lot of lake homes would have been lost including ours, and the wind was blowing it straight to our home.

Anyhow that was just one of the factors that convinced me to get out of the Forrest!
So, stay safe.

 

[lovinthehd]

Sounds all too much like the situation where I live the last two years (but ours were later in the year, this early is scary). We've had a longer/wetter winter this year and hopefully we escape this year but our forests are still basically suffering from drought so who knows what might happen with the right lightning storm (or idiot camper). We had some slash pile burning going on recently and a few days ago I woke up smelling such and it was kinda freaky still.

Good luck and hopefully your fire crews save your 'hood like they did ours the last two years....

 

[Mikado463]

Stay safe, we too are experiencing the effects of the fires here in SE Pa. The sky is smoky/hazy, there is a backdoor cold front expected over the weekend so hopefully it will bring us both some rain. We have just experienced the driest May on record

 

[Eppie]

Glad to hear you are safe for now. Sure hope you get some rain there soon. Such a dry spring in so many parts of the country. I've been keeping an eye on the Tantallon fires. We have a cottage booked in July on Head of Saint Margarets Bay but safe for now. The Hammonds Plains fires appear to be in the middle of populated areas. Scary stuff.

 

[Mr._Clark]

For several days now, Nova Scotia has been experiencing some major forest fires, including the largest in our recorded history on the south shore. There is another near Halifax that swept though a subdivision and burned 150+ homes. That one started on Sunday, about 16km west of my house and with strong westerly winds advanced 8km in a day. It was over 30℃ and we've had a pretty dry spring, so conditions were ripe. We packed up our most valuable/important possessions and slept very poorly that night. The winds subsequently died down and changed direction, so the fire hasn't really advanced towards us since, but it is still considered out of control.

Water bombers and additional firefighters have come from Newfoundland and New Brunswick to help out, as our resources have been swamped.

Then, on Tuesday, another fire started about 2km west of our house. Homes in the immediate area of the fire were evacuated, but not our neighbourhood. We actually loaded up our vehicles that evening, just in case. Another sleepless night. I got the impression that everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at that fire, as the only thing separating it from the metro Halifax area is a 4-lane highway. With strong winds, that would not be much of an impediment. If it crossed the highway, it would be "Holy Fcuk!" disastrous. Anyway, by yesterday evening, they seemed to get that one cornered. We slept better last night.

We are getting a bit of smoke in our area, but it isn't too bad at the moment. The temperature is expected to get over 30℃ again today with the wind picking up speed, so it may give the fires a boost. There is a chance of some showers tomorrow and through the weekend. We need them.

I want to express my appreciation for the 100 firefighters coming up from the US to help us out. Two hundred from South Africa are going to Alberta, as they are having a bad start to the fire season, as well.

Firefighters from U.S., South Africa to battle Canada's 'unprecedented' fires | CityNews Halifax

That's scary stuff. Stay safe my AH friend.

My son is in Canada for the CSSRA Championship Regatta this weekend in St. Catharines (https://cssra.ca/). When I saw your post I couldn't help but check the fire maps. It looks like they should fine.

 

[GO-NAD!]

That's scary stuff. Stay safe my AH friend.

My son is in Canada for the CSSRA Championship Regatta this weekend in St. Catharines (https://cssra.ca/). When I saw your post I couldn't help but check the fire maps. It looks like they should fine.

Yeah, St. Catherine's, Ontario, is a loonnng way from here.

 

[Eppie]

That's scary stuff. Stay safe my AH friend.

My son is in Canada for the CSSRA Championship Regatta this weekend in St. Catharines (https://cssra.ca/). When I saw your post I couldn't help but check the fire maps. It looks like they should fine.

St Catharines is my neck of the woods. The Welland Canal lock system is east of the city and worth checking out. They run the big freighters through there. Some of the Bruce Trail that we hiked last year runs along various canals in that area, old and new.

When I checked the wildfire map it only shows some planned fires in Michigan. One fire in MI and one in WI were both contained. The bad areas are currently in Nova Scotia, and northern British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. All 3 western provinces have at least one very large wildfire to contend with. Nova Scotia has 2 areas near Halifax and 2 areas to the south near Shelburne.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Yesterday afternoon it seemed like the situation was coming to a head. While the fires to the west of my location were coming well under control, several more new ones started in various locations around the province, including a few in the Halifax area. At one point, there were 16 active wildfires burning. A recall of "all available" firefighters was issued to deal with the new incidents.

The additional personnel thrown into the fight appeared to do the trick. By evening, the new blazes were extinguished, or controlled. And, what did I see when I looked out my window after getting up this morning? Wet ground! It actually rained a bit last night. Not a good soaking, mind you, but some is better than none. We are expecting more over the weekend.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1664422626184314880

Reinforcements coming from Montana.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1664427121907838976

 

[GO-NAD!]

I don't know if it's really fair to say this, but I have my suspicions that there may be some Venn diagram overlap between the 'Anti-vax/anti-lockdown/convoy crowd' and 'people who insist that they have a right have open fires during our worst wildfire situation ever'.

No excuses: Nova Scotians receiving $25,000 tickets for violating fire ban | SaltWire

At a mid-afternoon briefing on the wildfire situation, Halifax Mayor Mike Savage was not pleased that people are still burning despite everyone having received the emergency alert.

“The premier has expressed his frustration, as I have, with people who are violating the (no) burn order,” Savage said Thursday.

“In the last 12 hours we have had somebody burning leaves with a propane torch, we’ve had somebody else who was starting a bonfire. They are being investigated and the fines will be levied by both the province and the municipality.”

The incidents “are a clear violation of the no-stupid policy if ever there was one,” a visibly exasperated Savage said.

 

[Eppie]

I don't know if it's really fair to say this, but I have my suspicions that there may be some Venn diagram overlap between the 'Anti-vax/anti-lockdown/convoy crowd' and 'people who insist that they have a right have open fires during our worst wildfire situation ever'.

No excuses: Nova Scotians receiving $25,000 tickets for violating fire ban | SaltWire

I think those are just anti-government types in general that don't like being told what to do even if it is in their best interest. As they say, "there's no cure for stupid". Here's hoping you get that rain.

Nice to read about the water bombers. On the plus side Halifax airport is not too far away and there are plenty of lakes. I wonder where they go for fuel near Shelburne?

 

[GO-NAD!]

I think those are just anti-government types in general that don't like being told what to do even if it is in their best interest. As they say, "there's no cure for stupid". Here's hoping you get that rain.

Nice to read about the water bombers. On the plus side Halifax airport is not too far away and there are plenty of lakes. I wonder where they go for fuel near Shelburne?

There's an airport in Yarmouth. Maybe there?

 

[TLS Guy]

This fire season is off to a bad start.

Air quality here in the Twin Cities slightly less than optimal again and sky was slightly smoky this morning.

What really caught my attention, was doing the change of the furnace/AC tri-monthly change of the electronic filter element. It was black with soot, and I mean really black. We are thousands of miles away from the nearest fire. This really highlights how serious these fires are becoming and now a regular occurrence with the change of seasons.

 

[GO-NAD!]

After a weekend of steady - and much needed - rain, the fires in the Halifax region are all out or well under control. The fire in Shelburne county on the south shore is still considered out of control though - testament to it's massive size. The rain will certainly help get to get a handle on it, with more in the forecast over the next couple of days. Plus, reinforcements arrived over the weekend:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1665373425873956864

 

[highfigh]

I don't know if it's really fair to say this, but I have my suspicions that there may be some Venn diagram overlap between the 'Anti-vax/anti-lockdown/convoy crowd' and 'people who insist that they have a right have open fires during our worst wildfire situation ever'.

No excuses: Nova Scotians receiving $25,000 tickets for violating fire ban | SaltWire

While personal freedoms are great, those who constantly yell "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" need to think, for once.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Ironically, the weather system that has given us so much rain over the last few days and really knocked down the fires in Nova Scotia is also responsible for lightning in Quebec, triggering some awful blazes there. Much of the smoke drifting over the eastern half of the US originates from there.
Smoke Forecast - FireSmoke.ca

We are at the point where most - if not all - of the waterbombers that were working here have been diverted to Quebec.