Fires in the Halifax Regional Municipality

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Wildfires Evacuee Registration form

All residents and businesses who have been required to evacuate must register with 311 for follow-up when more information becomes available.

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Last updated: May 31, 3 p.m.

An evacuation order is in place for all residents within the affected area (see map below). Residents are being notified to evacuate via alert notifications, public service announcements, as well as by police and ground search and rescue personnel, who are going door-to-door where possible through the affected area. 

Residents are not allowed to return to their homes until they are advised that it is safe to do so by municipal authorities.

Areas under the evacuation order include:

  • Westwood subdivision, Upper Tantallon
  • Whitehills subdivision, Hammonds Plains
  • Highland Park subdivision, Yankeetown
  • Haliburton Hills
  • Pockwock Road
  • Glen Arbour
  • Lucasville Road (only) to Sackville Drive
  • Maplewood
  • Voyageur Way
  • St George Boulevard, including all side streets
  • McCabe Lake area
  • Indigo Shores

Residents who are directed to evacuate are advised to bring their pets, important documents and medication with them, as well as supplies for 72 hours. See the most recent map for the evacuation area.

All residents and businesses who have been required to evacuate must register with 311 via the online form (or by calling 1.800.835.6428), as staff will follow-up when more information becomes available.

Residents are strongly encouraged to avoid unnecessary travel due to ongoing fires in the region.

The municipality has issued a pre-evacuation notice to residents on Viscount Run, starting at the intersection of Spyglass Run up to and including Cloverleaf and Summerwood lanes. Additionally, a pre-evacuate notice is in place for the following streets: Olive Avenue, Bernard Street, Estelle Avenue, Lewis Drive, Farmers Dairy Lane, Giles Drive, Bluewater Road, Topsail Court, Command Court, Gary Martin Drive, Lasalle Court, Castlestone Drive and Hammonds Plains Road from the intersection of Larry Uteck Boulevard and Giles Drive. Residents in these areas should be prepared to evacuate within 30-minutes of receiving a mandatory notice to evacuate.

Residents in the local state of emergency zone should have a bag-packed as they may have limited time to leave their homes if required to evacuate on short-notice.

Operational Update: 

Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency (HRFE) crews remain on-scene and fighting the fires burning in multiple areas, with more than 837 hectares in the impacted area. The fire is ongoing and is not yet under control. Roughly 16,492 residents have been evacuated from their homes, with currently no missing people or injuries reported.

There is not yet a complete count of damage, but it is anticipated that 200 homes or structures have been destroyed, approximately 150 of which are homes. For more information, see below.

Today there are roughly 100 personnel from HRFE and DND and DNRR. 22 fire apparatus, as well as three helicopters, are at the scene.

Multiple briefings regarding operational efforts by fire services have been held in recent days, including a media availability at 9 a.m. today, Wednesday, May 31.

A map of the evacuated areas, impacted areas and local state of emergency area from the wildfires.

POWER OUTAGES: For the latest information regarding the status of power outages visit the Nova Scotia Power Outage Map.  

SCHOOL CLOSURES: For the latest information regarding the status of school closures visit the Halifax Regional Centre for Education

Damage to homes or structures

Municipal officials received a briefing from the Fire Incident Commander today. The Incident Commander discussed selected areas of the fire evacuation zone which might be considered for re-entry in the coming days if conditions are favourable.

However, it is critical to remember that no reductions to the fire evacuation zone or the local state of emergency zone will be considered if weather or other factors increase fire spread or the risk of fire spread.

The municipality has updated the map above of the fire evacuation areas and the local state of emergency area and outlining the area of significant impact.

Only residents and businesses whose properties are located in the area of significant impact on the evacuation map must immediately register with 311 via the online form (or by calling 1.800.835.6428), as staff will follow-up when more information becomes available.

Additional information will be made available to affected residents once detailed mapping has been completed. Preliminary estimates indicate that approximately 200 structures have been destroyed as a result of the fires, 150 of which are homes. A full assessment of the damage cannot yet be confirmed.

The municipality is currently developing a plan to support affected residents. It is anticipated that this process will take several days, or maybe longer, as the fires remain active.

Residents are not allowed to return to their homes until they are advised that it is safe to do so by municipal authorities. Residents must remain clear of the fire evacuation area and refrain from filming and taking photos of the fire area, including flying personal drones.

Comfort centres

Comfort centre details are as follows:  

  • Black Point and Area Community Centre | 8579 St Margarets Bay Road. The comfort centre reopened at 8 a.m. and will remain open until 9 p.m. on Wednesday, May 31.
  • Beaver Bank Kinsac Community Centre | 1583 Beaver Bank Road. The comfort centre will reopen at 9 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 31.

Comfort centres are temporary accommodations where food and water are provided, as well as a place to charge devices and receive up-to-date information, when residents are impacted by prolonged power outages, extreme temperatures or other significant events.

Evacuation information and response

Canada Games Centre |  26 Thomas Raddall Drive. The evacuation centre is open 24/7 and will remain open for the foreseeable future until it is no longer needed.

An evacuation centre is a type of emergency facility which is opened when residents have to be evacuated from their homes due to a specific emergency event and where evacuees are received, needs are identified, and food, water and overnight accommodations are provided. 

Nova Scotia Health’s mobility primary care clinic is hosting a drop-in clinic at the Canada Games Centre. The clinic will reopen at 9 a.m. and will remain open until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 31.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada and seven major insurance companies and their representatives will be available to speak with affected residents at the Canada Games Centre from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and at the Black Point and Area Community Centre from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, May 31. Future opportunities to speak with their representatives will be available in the coming days. 

All residents and businesses who have been required to evacuate must register with 311 via the online form (or by calling 1.800.835.6428) for follow-up when more information becomes available.

Residents are not allowed to return to their homes until they are advised that it is safe to do so by municipal authorities. Residents must remain clear of the evacuation area and refrain from filming and taking photos of the fire area, including flying personal drones.

Those who have evacuated are advised that, if they do not have access to their medication, they can contact any pharmacy and request a renewal. For more information, please see the guidelines provided by the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia.

Emergency preparation

Residents in the local state of emergency zone should have a bag-packed as they may have limited time to leave their homes if required to evacuate on short-notice. Residents who are directed to evacuate are advised to bring their pets, important documents and medication with them, as well as supplies for 72 hours.

Evacuation orders are mandatory, which means residents must evacuate in accordance with local authorities, such as police, firefighters and ground search and rescue.

This situation remains fluid; teams are assessing the extent of damage. Further information will be made available to residents as soon as possible.

Halifax Transit

The following routes are currently impacted:

Route 330 – Route 330s will start and end at Sheldrake Lake (3826 St. Margaret’s Bay Road). There will be no service to Tantallon Park and Ride (3664 Hammonds Plains Road).

Route 433 – Route 433 will start and end at West Bedford Park and Ride (120 Innovation Drive). There will be no service on Hammonds Plains Road, from Gary Martin Drive to Tantallon Park and Ride.

Route 83/183 – Route 83/183 will end on Crossfield Ridge. They will then turn right on Sackville Drive and right onto Melham Drive. Routes 83/183 will hold on Melham Drive before departing heading back to Sackville Terminal (7 Walker Avenue).

Halifax Public Libraries

Tantallon Public Library will be closed while the area remains in the state of local emergency. For the latest information on the status of all Halifax Public Libraries locations and services, please visit their website.

Parks & Recreation

In addition to the Province of Nova Scotia restricting travel and activities in wooded areas, the municipality is closing all wooded areas of municipal parks and all municipal trails effective 8 a.m. on Wednesday, May 31. Parks such as Shubie Park, Point Pleasant Park and Admiral Cove Park will be fully closed, as they are heavily wooded. However, non-wooded areas of municipal parks, such as greenspaces, playgrounds, sports fields and ball diamonds will remain open for use. Examples of non-wooded parks are the Halifax Common and Sullivan’s Pond. 

For parks which have both wooded and non-wooded areas, the wooded areas are closed and the non-wooded areas remain open. An example of this would be Fort Needham Memorial Park where the monument, playground and sports field remain open but the wooded section is closed.

Parking lot closures will be completed as soon as possible, however with many wooded parks across the region this will take time to complete. Although not all wooded areas within parks will be able to be physically closed off, please abide by the Province of Nova Scotia restrictions in effect for travel and activities in wooded areas.

The Sackville Sports Stadium pool is closed on Wednesday, May 31 due to air quality issues resulting from outside smoke conditions. Staff are continuously monitoring the air quality throughout the building.

The Bedford Hammonds-Plains Community Centre and Lebrun Recreation Centre is closed on Wednesday, May 31. 

A reminder as per By-Law P-600, open fires and campfires are not permitted within municipal parks at any time.

Solid Waste

Curbside collection of green carts and recycling is cancelled for tomorrow, Wednesday, May 31 in Hammonds Plains, Upper Hammonds Plains, Glen Arbour, White Hills, and Lucasville including Kingswood North. Collection will occur on the next regular green cart and recycling collection day, Wednesday, June 14.

Residents are reminded that collection can begin as early as 7 a.m.

The municipality's Curbside Giveaway Week, planned for Saturday, June 3 and Sunday, June 4, has been cancelled. The next Curbside Giveaway Weekend will be held on the weekend of Saturday, October 14 and Sunday, October 15.

Residents who have items they wish to give away may choose to donate those items to a charity or to use one of the many free online resources to help rehome those items. For more information visit www.halifax.ca/curbside.

Public service announcements
Burn Ban 

As crews battle multiple fires, there is a zero-tolerance policy in effect for the duration of the outdoor burning ban. Fines will be issued against those who are burning outdoors, which includes penalties up to $25,000. Any person responsible for fire spread can also be required to pay all expenses related to controlling or extinguishing the fire, and all related fire damages.

Illegal outdoor burning puts lives, properties, and the environment at risk. It also ties up critical fire department resources.

The Province of Nova Scotia has announced burn, travel, fireworks and activities restrictions. The restrictions are in place until June 25 or until conditions allow them to be lifted.