HALIFAX — Officials in Nova Scotia said there were no new reports of damage to homes on Tuesday as a large wildfire in the Annapolis Valley continued to burn out of control.
The Department of Natural Resources estimated that the Long Lake fire covered roughly 80 square kilometres. High winds and dry conditions have led to the fire doubling its size since the weekend.
Firefighters were hoping that rain forecast for Monday would help suppression efforts, but Jim Rudderham, director of fleet and forest protection, said the benefits of a lighter rainfall in the area of the fire were minimal.
“That rain is nice, we’ll take it, but parts of the province got much more rain than the (parts affected by) fire,” Rudderham said during a briefing. “This fire has grown and given the drought conditions in this province we are very well aware that this is going to be a long incident so we are trying to balance our resources.”
As a result, he said a 20 person fire crew from Ontario along with an incident management team from that province would be spelling off some of their Nova Scotia counterparts on Wednesday. He said some of the local crews had been fighting fires prior to the Long Lake fire breaking out on Aug. 13.
“Our crews definitely need a rest … because they have been going flat out much longer than this incident has been going on,” Rudderham said.
Environment Canada said smoke from the wildfire has reduced air quality in Annapolis County and as far away as Halifax, located about 125 kilometres southeast.
Rudderham said overcast skies and smoke had grounded tanker aircraft over the last two days although helicopters were still able to assist ground crews.
Officials said Monday the fire had damaged some homes in the West Dalhousie area, but they said they would wait to release precise figures until residents are notified.
“There have been areas where they (firefighters) haven’t been able to get in to confirm because it’s too dangerous,” said Dustin Enslow, deputy warden of the County of Annapolis.
Enslow said in an interview that just over 1,000 people had fled their homes in the area, and more than 250 people had registered at a shelter at the Nova Scotia Community College campus in nearby Middleton.
Meanwhile, ground crews on Tuesday focused their efforts on the east side of Paradise Lake, trying to prevent the spread of the fire to Trout Lake.
“The top priority is keeping people safe and doing all we can do to save homes,” said Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection. “It’s still burning very intensely and deep in the ground, so it’s very much a challenging fire to fight.”
Tingley said 62 firefighters from Ontario, 56 provincial firefighters, 54 volunteer firefighters and 30 pieces of heavy equipment were battling the flames on Tuesday.
In Newfoundland, officials said heavy rain expected throughout the day would bring needed relief to the Kingston wildfire, which is still burning out of control. They said that while sections of the fire had been contained, the blaze was still estimated at more than 100 square kilometres.
Officials in New Brunswick lifted an evacuation advisory on Tuesday morning for the Black River Bridge fire near Miramichi, which is considered contained. The province reported 17 active wildfires with three out of control.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2025.
Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press
