The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says although conditions are not as extreme as over the weekend, the Long Lake wildfire remains very, very challenging at 8,026 hectares.
In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection said, a low ceiling earlier in the day hampered some firefighting.
By late afternoon, DNR said in a new update, aircraft are up making progress in the fight, focusing on the east side of Paradise Lake.
How bad was the fire Sunday?
It was loud and large.
“Staff that were within earshot [on Sunday] said it sounded like a freight train. It was very loud, very long flame lengths for sure,” said Tingley. “It moved in what they described as three main fingers. So, you know, some very active flame fronts.”
Three hundred and thirty-three homes have been evacuated, some damaged and some lost but details are still vague.
Jim Rudderham, director of fleet and forest protection says, due to the conditions, it still tough to get in to see the extent of damage done.
“There’s still some active fire and some areas at the northern end of the fire that makes it very challenging to get around to do a thorough assessment, just due to safety conditions in that area,” said Rudderham.
Tingley said it is really hot and smoky with “a lot of dangerous trees and stuff”.
Fire crews coming in
Resources from Ontario are coming in to give local firefighters a rest.
Tingley says it is a 20-person crew.
“They’re actually going to replace our Nova Scotian crew of 20 that have been deployed to this fire from the start. The other ones coming also tomorrow, are the members of the incident management team who will be replacing our Nova Scotia incident management team,” said Tingley.
He said, this is common practice to help give crews time to get ready for the next round.
Rudderham said they are going to be dealing with this fire for a while considering the drought.
“We are very well aware this is going to be a long incident, so we are trying to balance our resources,” said Rudderham.
As for the rain on Monday, DNR said it might have bought them a day or two, but not anything more than that.
Tingley said fire activity is expected to increase with sunnier, warmer days.
The next update will be Wednesday morning.
