RCMP are evacuating homes in the West Porters Lake area, east of Halifax, as crews battle a large brush fire on Saturday.
More than 1,000 residents in the Porters Lake area of Nova Scotia were asked to leave their homes Saturday as crews battle a large brush fire east of Halifax.
“It’s a fire out of control, and we have helicopters and personnel trying to contain it right now,” Jim Rudderham acting manager for forest protection in Nova Scotia, said late Saturday afternoon.
Rudderham said they responded to the brush fire, which began just north of Highway 107, around 12:30 p.m. AT.
It then hopped the road and headed south toward the Atlantic coast, but “there’s a lot of land in between there,” he said.
Since the conditions are so dry and windy, Rudderham said they requested more resources, including helicopters and help from Halifax Fire.
Just after 4 p.m., Rudderham said three helicopters from the Department of Lands and Forestry were helping pour water on the blaze, which had grown to about 40 hectares.
Fifteen provincial staff and crews from eight Halifax Fi