Porter's Lake brush fire in Nova Scotia caused nearly 1,000 people to leave homes

#Halifax; #NovaScotia; #PortersLakeBushFire; #DepartmentOfLandsAndForestry 

Nova Scotia, May 23 (Canadian-Media): A large brush fire east of Halifax being battled by fire crews on Saturday resulted in more than 1,000 residents in the Porters Lake area of Nova Scotia being asked to leave their homes, media reports said.

Bush fire. Image credit: Pixaby

Jim Rudderham acting manager for forest protection in Nova Scotia said when they responded to the brush fire, which began just north of Highway 107, around 12:30 p.m. AT, the fire was out of control due to dry and windy conditions.

Three helicopters from the Department of Lands and Forestry were called to pour water on the blaze, which had grown to about 40 hectares. Fifteen provincial staff and crews from eight Halifax Fire detachments were also helping put off the fire.

The fire impacted more than 1,000 residents including residents on Candy Mountain Road in nearby Mineville, N.S. who are being asked to be ready to leave

Halifax Fire district Chief Brad Connors said RCMP will be going door to door this afternoon to alert residents. The RCMP said anyone who needs to leave will be contacted directly.

Drivers are asked to use an alternate route.

A special air quality statement was put out by Environment Canada just after 2 p.m. local time for those in Halifax Metro and Halifax County West due to smoke in the area.

This is the second large fire crews had to fight in Nova Scotia on Saturday. 

Friday evening a forest fire erupted near Chester Grant, N.S., and covered about 27 hectares and at least two buildings were razed.