Evacuees return after Nova Scotia wildfire
Evacuees return after Nova Scotia wildfire
16June 2008
published by www.upi.com
The majority of some 5,000 people who fled a Nova Scotia wildfire were back in their homes Monday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
The fire broke out Friday afternoon about 25 miles east of Halifax and for two days benefited from high winds and warm, dry air until firefighters got a weather break Sunday afternoon, the Canwest News Service reported. Once conditions improved, water bombing aircraft from New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec were able to wet down the main fire, officials said.
The fire swept an area nearly 12 miles long and two miles wide, officials said. Two homes were destroyed and 10 others were damaged. There were no reports of injuries, officials said.
RCMP Cpl. Joe Taplin said forensic investigators have taken photographs and evidence, but weren’t prepared yet to declare the fire an arson. Fire officials in military helicopters flew over the charred forest using infra-red cameras looking for hot spots Monday morning, the report said.
