’85 per cent contained’: Rain offering helping hand for crews fighting wildfires in N.S.

Officials said on Saturday morning that although the wildfire in the Tantallon area is no longer spreading, it could be weeks or months before it can officially be confirmed 'out'.

As firefighters begin to receive help from mother nature during the fight against wildfires throughout Nova Scotia, officials announced Saturday morning that the fire in the Tantallon area is no longer deemed out of control. Though, it may still be a while before the blaze is completely extinguished.

David Steeves, technician of forest resources for Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, said that the 950-hectare wildfire, now considered ’85 per cent contained’, is not expected to spread at this time. Despite the promising updates, he said the fire is unlikely to be declared ‘out’ for even weeks or months.

“We’re not going to say this fire is out until we are sure,” he said. “We need to check all those rocks, we need to check all those rotten stumps, we need to check all those little places where those little embers can hide to make sure, so folks can feel safe in their homes.”

“The rain we’re getting now is going to help the suppression issues,” he said, as the intensity of precipitation began picking up during Saturday’s media briefing near the Tantallon wildfire site. “There’s still a significant amount of work that needs to be done,” Steeves said.

He said despite heavy rain throughout the day, reignition remains a concern.

“When we get a little bit of rain, we are so hopeful it’s going to make a major impact, but sometimes that lulls us into a bit of a false sense of security,” he said. “Given the terrain and the fuels that we’re dealing with in this particular area, there could be embers hiding in places that this water is not going to get to, so that’s why it takes such an extensive amount of time for us to declare a fire ‘out’.”

Steeves said since the Tantallon fire’s status is now labelled as ‘being held’, any additional resources received will be redirected to Shelburne County, where crews are battling a 23,000-hectare blaze which is now considered the largest recorded wildfire in the province’s history.