Lake George wildfire is out of control and human caused

The Lake George wildfire in Kings County was caused by humans and remains out of control at 150 hectares Tuesday afternoon, according to Jim Rudderham with the Department of Natural Resources.

Rudderham told reporters there is not enough evidence to suspect the exact cause of the blaze.

“It is quite frustrating for us and for everybody when this happens, but that happens quite often, that we can’t hold anyone to account or we don’t really know exactly how it started,” said Rudderham.

The burn ban was lifted Friday but is in place again for the entire province until further notice.

Officials say it is believed that no structures have been lost or damaged at this point, and no further evacuations are likely as of Tuesday evening, although evacuation alerts remain in place for 56 residents, with 275 homes who have already had to leave.

Structures are still about 2km away from the flames.

At of 8:20 a.m., Nova Scotia Emergency Management says those in the southwest end of Alyesford Lake should be prepared to evacuate including Birch Lane, Spruce Drive and Blue Lane.

They follow evacuation orders Monday evening for the north end of Aylesford Lake, from Old Mill Lane, southwest to Simpson Cove Lane & along both sides of North River Rd, to Aylesford Lake Beach (at 580 North River Road).

It is from Old Mill Lane, southwest to Simpson Cove Lane.

This order was in addition to Kingswood Camp and Fox Mountain campground.

Public Works says Alyesford Road is closed to all traffic from the Fox Mountain Cam.

As of 10 a.m., helicopters are flying overhead to get a better gauge on size, and more evacuations are possible.

Helicopters are also dropping water.

Twenty-three DNR crews, 20 local firefighters, were on site for daybreak with planes from Quebec on the way.

A 24/7 evacuation centre is at Louis Millett Community Complex, 9489 Commercial Street, 902-890-2402 to register.

Kings County has an air quality statement and is in a state of emergency.

more to come…