Canada is still in flames. More than 16,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in Nova Scotia, in the east of the country, after one of the many fires ravaging the country threatened the city of Halifax, authorities said Monday.
The fire, still out of control in the northwest of the city, however has not progressed since a state of emergency was declared on Sunday evening, leaving residents of the suburbs on the alert, ready to evacuate at any time.
Residents in shock
“We really thought we were going to die,” Marian and Peter Gillespie, a couple who found themselves caught in the flames, told public media CBC, with “ashes and sparks falling on the car” as they they were fleeing the fire. “It was surreal to drive in the midst of burning vehicles and homes,” said a volunteer firefighter to Radio-Canada, with tears in his eyes.
On the television channels, we can see large plumes of smoke and several houses and vehicles reduced to ashes by the flames, but no injuries are to be deplored. Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston described the province as “under tension”, while Halifax Mayor Mike Savage spoke of an “unprecedented” fire. “We have not expanded the perimeter (of the evacuation zone) since yesterday, which gives hope that the situation may have stabilized,” he added, while stressing that it “ remains dangerous.
Although the winds that had fanned the flames changed direction on Monday, pushing the wildfire back in the direction it came from, that was not enough to ward off the danger, authorities said. Only rain could allow them to control the fire, they said, but no precipitation is expected during the week.
On Monday, wildfires were burning in eight of Canada’s thirteen provinces and territories. In recent years, the west of the country has been hit repeatedly by extreme weather events, the intensity and frequency of which have increased due to global warming.