The fire prompted more than 16,000 people to be evacuated from their homes in Hammonds Plains, Upper Tantallon and Pockwock, which are suburban communities about 25 kilometres away from Halifax. It destroyed about 200 buildings, including 151 homes.
Hazy skies tinged with an eerie yellow glow greeted millions of Canadians in Quebec and Ontario again on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, as the smoke from hundreds of wildfires continued to cause air quality warnings in Canada's most populated corridor.
On air quality maps, purple signifies the worst of it. In reality, it's a thick, hazardous haze that’s disrupting daily life for millions of people across the U.S. and Canada, blotting out skylines and turning skies orange.
Weather maps hang on the walls and precipitation reports flash across screens in the Winnipeg office where major decisions about Canada’s battle against an unprecedented wildfire season are made.
The owner of a Nova Scotia daycare destroyed as recent wildfires ripped through the province says the flames consumed both her livelihood and a physical piece of twentieth-century history.
People with existing heart and lung conditions, seniors, pregnant people, and children are all particularly vulnerable to health issues from smoke inhalation. Smoke inhalation can worsen underlying conditions such as asthma, impact lung function and cause respiratory problems.
In all, there were four wildfires in the province burning out of control on Thursday, including the massive Barrington Lake fire in Shelburne County, which grew to more than 200 square kilometres despite a constant bombardment of water and fire retardant from a fleet of water bombers and air tankers.
"The fire was raging at such an incredible pace that I just wanted to save somebody else's house while I could," volunteer firefighter Mark Zawidzki said.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says new legislation will let Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador tap into the potential of offshore wind power development.