JORDAN BAY, N.S. — By KATHY JOHNSON
TRI-COUNTY VANGUARD
Lands and Forestry firefighters were still on the scene of a remote forest fire in Jordan Bay, Shelburne County, on Aug. 27, trying to get the blaze that had broken out two days earlier contained.
“They hope to have it contained” later today, said Scott Tingley, Manager of Forest Protection. “Once they get the hose all the way around it, they call it contained. It’s being held right now and not anticipated to grow.”
Firefighters on the ground and two Lands and Forestry water bombers in the air tackled the blaze for the first two days. Local volunteers also lent a hand.
Twelve crews out of Shelburne, Queens and Yarmouth counties’ Lands and Forestry, as well as one helicopter, were on the scene Tuesday, Aug. 27, trying to get the fire contained. Tingley said they expected to release the chopper later in the day.
Tingley said the fire started in a remote bog barren area and went into some of the standing timbers, burning about 15 hectares.
“It’s burning hot and deep, two feet,” he said. “The area hasn’t had rain in about a month.”
The area is a few kilometers south of the Lake Rodney municipal water supply.
This is the second fire in the Jordan Falls area in the past week. A fire in the Lake John area that was ongoing when the Jordan Bay fire broke out has since been extinguished. It burned about half a hectare and was caused by a lighting strike, said Tingley.
The cause of Jordan is an ongoing investigation.
Tingley said while some parts of the province have recently had significant rainfall, the same isn’t true for Shelburne, Queens and parts of Yarmouth counties.
“Forest conditions are very, very dry,” said Tingley. “Any rain that we have been having in those areas is very insignificant. We encourage people to follow the burn restrictions we have in place be very careful. There does look like rain in the forecast so we’re hoping that comes through but as it stands that area is very, very dry.”
