Department of Natural Resources firefighters Dylan Mulder, left, and Elijah DeCoste, both of Jeddore, watch a water bomber make a pass over the wildfire. (Province of Nova Scotia)
UPDATE 5:20 p.m.: The Susies Lake, near Bayers Lake, has shrunk to about 15 hectares, around half the size it was Wednesday morning, according to an update from the Halifax municipality just before noon.
A mandatory evacuation is in place for all businesses in the plaza on the west side of Chain Lake drive, from the off-ramp for Highway 2 to Julius Boulevard, according to a news release from the Halifax municipality.
Police have reopened Chain lake Drive to help reduce traffic through Bayers Lake, but the entrances to the plaza, from Julius Boulevard to Kent, will be closed.
Bus route 21 for Timberlea will return to its regular route through Bayers Lake, but Route 28 Bayers Lake will stay on a detour because of the mandatory evacuation.
People should limit their travel to the Bayers Lake area as firefighters continue to battle the wildfire, the city says.
There is still no threat to structures or residents in the area.
A helicopter drops water on the wildfire. (Province of Nova Scotia)
Thirty firefighters are on the scene, and six Halifax Fire helicopters are on the scene. Two contracted helicopters are also helping, one dropping water and one directing where to drop water, according to DNR.
Premier Tim Houston, along with Scott Tingley, Manager of Forest Protection with DNR, gave an update on the wildfire situation during a news conference at 3 p.m.
Illegal burn started fire
The wildfire near Halifax’s Bayers Lake Business Park started Tuesday afternoon because of an illegal open fire in the woods, according to Tingley.
He says the wind was working in their favour. The Bayers Lake Outpatient Centre was south of the fire, but the wind was blowing north and pushed the fire in that direction.
Firefighters were working to stop the fire from spreading to the left and right. He said their efforts definitely contained some of that outward spread, which was heading toward Bayers Lake on one side and homes on the other.
Susies Lake also acted as a barrier for the fire, he said.
No major growth overnight
Over night, the fire saw no major growth overnight, and by the morning it was between 25 and 30 hectares.
Thirty DNR firefighters began work at first light Wednesday, taking advantage of a short window of foggy, misty conditions to make progress on the ground.
Halifax Professional Firefighters president Brendan Meagher says conditions across the region remain high risk.
“I’ve never seen the forest more ready to burn,” Meagher said.
Meagher says cooperation between agencies helped during Tuesday’s response.
“Planes were available and they made a big difference,” he said. “Police did a great job of clearing the community so trucks could move in and out safely.”
Businesses in parts of Bayers Lake were evacuated Tuesday, though no homes were affected. Several roads in the area remain closed, and residents are being asked to avoid unnecessary travel to keep routes clear for emergency vehicles.
The outpatient clinic in Bayers Lake also remains closed as a precaution and due to smoke in the area. All appointments have been moved to the Cobequid Health Centre in Sackville.
Meagher says firefighters are focused on keeping people safe before anything else. “Making sure people are out of that area and that the community is safe is our first priority,” he said. “We all look forward to getting back to normal as soon as possible, and everybody’s going to work as hard as possible right now so we can do that.”
Worker describes ‘chaos’ leaving Bayers Lake Tuesday
A worker at a store on Chain Lake Drive says it was ‘chaos’ leaving Bayers Lake.
Sam Surette says they cleared customers out of Winners around 3 yesterday, and they left shortly after.
“It was crazy, people were also coming into the business park to see what was going on as people were leaving. Traffic was quite backed up, it took about a half hour to get out,” said Surette.
She says it was a panicked feeling as everyone tried to leave at once.
Surette says she had a good view of the smoke, and it seemed the fire was growing quickly.
Two smaller fires in Kings County
Meanwhile, two smaller out-of-control fires are burning in Kings County.
There are also two fires burning near Lake Paul. One at 0.9 hectares is under control and one at 1.9 hectares is out of control, according to an update from the Department of Natural Resources at about 4:45 p.m.
Eight planes from New Brunswick dropped fire retardant on the fire earlier in the afternoon, and two DNR helicopters are still dropping water on the scene.
