'Beautiful rainy day': Shelburne County wildfire is out of control, but optimism abounds
CBC
It's been a hectic week for fire crews and support staff tackling a historic wildfire in Shelburne County, but heavy rainfall this weekend and reinforcements from the U.S. are helping lighten the load for firefighters.
"It's this beautiful rainy day," Dave Rockwood, spokesperson for Nova Scotia's Department of National Resources, said Sunday morning.
"Thirty five millimetres of rain has fallen in the last 24 hours, and according to the weather report, we're looking at 10 and 15 throughout the day … and another 10 to 15 overnight. If we get that we're going to be feeling a whole lot better."
As of 8 a.m., the Barrington Lake fire in Shelburne County was at 24,890 hectares, he said. It is the largest wildfire on record for Nova Scotia.
Local crews have been kept busy since the fire started last Friday. Rockwood said his main concern now is to make sure to limit fatigue and to avoid any slips, trips and falls.
The arrival of firefighters from New Hampshire and New York, who will be out in the woods today, will also help. "That's gonna help keep the rest of us that have been around a lot longer, keep us safe, keep us rested," he said.
The Lake Road fire, just south of Shelburne, is being held at 114 hectares. It has not grown since Saturday, said Rockwood, and some residents who'd been evacuated have been allowed to return to their homes.
Meanwhile, the fire in Pubnico, at 138 hectares, has been in check since Saturday at noon.
In total, 192 personnel are working on the fires, along with 49 pieces of heavy equipment, said Rockwood.
Eddie Nickerson, the warden of the Municipality of Barrington, says his community has come together in a big way in the past week.
"Everybody has something to do," he said. "If they're not out fighting the fire, they're at the community centre helping out. If they're not volunteering, they're putting people up in their homes. It is a community effort."
He feels the mood lifting around town with this weekend's rain.
"Usually it's the sunshine that brings on that attitude, this time it's the grey clouds and the rain," he said.
Four of six CL-415 water bombers expected to arrive in Nova Scotia from Montana have landed in Greenwood. With the rain, they aren't expected to be needed Sunday, Rockwood said.
All public schools on P.E.I. are closed Friday and thousands of Maritime Electric customers are without power as strong winds create hazardous travel conditions across the province.
Prince Rupert, B.C., residents are celebrating the holidays this year with coastal flair.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.
Acute Care Alberta has extended its contract for another year with a private surgical facility at the centre of probes into health procurement and contracting.
As food bank use continues to climb across the province, front-line workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., are working to improve both food security and education.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.
The driver wanted in connection with a fatal hit and run on Highway 401 earlier this week has been identified, police say.
There are mixed feelings about the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, among people who live in nearby communities.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse and includes graphic content.
Provincial police in Lambton County have charged a 23-year-old man with second degree murder following a death investigation that began this past Saturday.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is forming a working group to tackle what it calls systemic issues in the justice system, but answers or solutions could still be months away.
A woman has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2024 fatal hit and run in Truro, N.S., where the victim was dragged down the street, a case that went unsolved for more than six months.