Wildfire forces thousands of people to evacuate in eastern Canada
More than 16,000 people evacuate their homes as crews battle a raging fire near Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The capital of Canada’s eastern province of Nova Scotia has declared a state of emergency as an out-of-control wildfire near Halifax forced thousands of residents to evacuate and caused the closure of schools.
The Halifax Regional Municipality has set up temporary accommodation for people fleeing the blaze and reminded residents early Monday that evacuation orders are mandatory.
The wildfire, fueled by strong winds and arid forests, has damaged dozens of homes and hampered rescue services, authorities said.
Dave Meldrum, deputy chief of Halifax Fire, told reporters Monday that there were no reports of missing people or injuries, but buildings had suffered damage or been destroyed.
“Our firefighters and other partners worked hard yesterday to evacuate much of our city, and last night we stayed on site,” Meldrum said.
“We had 100 firefighters here at night fighting spot fires, putting out structures that were on fire and wherever we could prevent more structures from being lost,” he said.
Halifax, a port city with a population of about 480,000, declared A state of emergency was declared late Sunday to help respond to the blaze, which was still burning in the nearby Tantallon and Hammonds Plains areas.
In a separate statement on Monday morning it said more than 60 hectares (148 acres) had burned down while about 16,400 people had been evacuated from their homes.
“There is not yet a full count of the damage, but several buildings are expected to be lost,” the municipality said.
Nova Scotia Prime Minister Tim Houston said water bombers had arrived from the eastern provinces of New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador to help local crews.
“We are in contact with our municipal and federal partners to ensure that all resources are exhausted,” Houston wrote on Twitter.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government was “ready to provide all needed federal support and assistance.”
We have several fires in Nova Scotia right now. Pay attention to emergency warnings in affected areas.
Water bombers have arrived from NB and NL to provide additional support and have been actively fighting the fires for the past hour.
— Tim Houston (@TimHoustonNS) May 29, 2023
“The wildfire situation in Nova Scotia is incredibly serious,” Trudeau tweeted.
“We keep all those affected in our thoughts and we thank those who are working hard to keep people safe,” he said.
The provinces of Alberta and British Columbia in western Canada have also experienced unusually warm weather that has led to several wildfires that have gone out of control, reducing oil and gas production. However, most of those fires are now under control.
Many experts have pointed to climate change as a factor that has exacerbated extreme weather events such as wildfires, heat waves and tropical storms around the world.
In 2016, wildfires in Alberta’s oil sands region disrupted oil production, displacing 100,000 residents of Fort McMurray and hitting the Canadian economy.
A brutal heat wave in British Columbia in 2021 resulted in hundreds of deaths. The heat also sparked dozens of wildfires, forcing evacuations and flattening entire communities.