Since this report the number of homes evacuated is approximately 5000. It is still out of control and spreading.
N.S. brush fire claims 2 homes, damages 3 others
Updated Sat. Jun. 14 2008 4:22 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Firefighters in Nova Scotia say a raging brush fire near Halifax has destroyed two houses and damaged three others.
They also said Saturday that the fire, which is burning in a rural area surrounding Porters Lake, has grown since Friday night. At that time, it was reported to be eight kilometres long and two kilometres wide. It is now three kilometres wide and 15 kilometres long.
Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly told CTV Newsnet that over 2,000 homes have been evacuated.
About 100 firefighters were desperately trying to keep the flames from spreading -- and a call for help was put out to all volunteer firefighters in the area.
Kelly said eight waterbombers were being used on the brush fire.
Earlier in the day, firefighters had said winds, which had died down overnight, had gained strength again. This made their work tougher.
"The winds are picking up and that's what's helping the fire. It would be great if it would turn back on its burned area, that way it's got nothing to burn," Roy Hollett, deputy chief of the Halifax Regional Fire Department, said Saturday morning.
On Saturday, emergency officials reported that about 4,000 people have been left homeless by the brush fire. About 200 people have registered at emergency shelters set up in some local community centres.
Evacuee Marian Waltman, 56, said the experience has left people frustrated.
"You feel helpless because you can't go back, you can't go help," she said.
"I wish I was a firefighter and on the front line fighting not only for your own house but for all the other houses and all the other people with the pets inside and the people losing everything."
The fire began Friday afternoon, and its billowing smoke could be seen 30 kilometres away in Halifax.
Investigators are still trying to determine the fire's cause.
With files from The Canadian Press
