This volunteer firefighter lost his home as he worked to save others

The last time Kasey DeMings saw his house was the day the fire got to Carleton Village, which is about a 15-minute drive from Shelburne, N.S.

DeMings, a fisherman of 10 years, had just joined the Gunning Cove volunteer fire department a few days earlier. That morning found him standing at the head of his driveway as the fire crawled closer. 

But his crew was needed elsewhere, so DeMings turned away and went to save someone else's home. 

"It was emotional, but the adrenaline was so high that I kind of blocked it out," he said. "I knew that I couldn't worry about my house. I had to try to save what we could save." 

In the end DeMings, along with his wife and two young daughters, lost their house and garage, and the family cottage. 

All the lobster traps, halibut gear and herring nets that were stored in the yard near their house burned as well — uninsured gear that DeMings estimates was worth $250,000. 

"I guess we had hopes that DNR and the water bombers were going to stop it. And they just couldn't, it was just too big." 

The Barrington Lake fire started May 27 in rural Shelburne County and raged out of control for days. By the time the province announced the fire had been brought "under control," it had grown to around 235 square kilometres in size — making it the largest on record in Nova Scotia.

Officials said the fire destroyed about 60 homes and another 90 structures like outbuildings and barns. 

It also displaced 6,700 people from their homes, some for as long as two weeks.

As many as 150 firefighters from the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables and many volunteer fire departments fought the blaze with helicopters, airplanes and water bombers.

DeMings already had some fire training from his work as a fisherman, and went into the Gunning Cove fire department the same weekend the Barrington Lake fire started. 

He joined up that day and received basic training on the department's three fire trucks. 

Then it was off to the fire zone, loading giant cube-shaped water tanks in the back of pickup trucks and using pumps borrowed from the Coast Guard to soak as many homes as possible.