Weather conditions ground aircraft covering Shelburne County wildfire
CTV
Crews fighting an out-of-control wildfire in southwestern Nova Scotia are trying to determine what impact weekend rain had on their efforts.
The largest wildfire in Nova Scotia history is still out of control, the province said Monday afternoon.
The Barrington Lake blaze started May 28 and now covers more than 24,900 hectares of Shelburne County — roughly 200 kilometres southwest of Halifax.
Rain over the weekend helped but it's not clear how much, said Scott Tingley, a forestry manager with the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables.
Crews are getting an idea of the rain's impact but are doing so on foot or in a vehicle. As of Monday morning, Tingley said aircraft were grounded because of weather.
“As soon as they get a window, they’ll get up, have a look,” said Tingley in an interview.
Going forward, aircraft will be primarily used for observation and for transporting firefighting gear, a Department of Natural Resources and Renewables spokesperson working out of Shelburne said Monday.
“At this time, I don’t anticipate the use or the need of the aircraft bombers any time soon,” he said, thanks to about 90 millimetres of rain that’s recently fallen in the region.
