Truemors
New Update, Halifax: 3,000 Nova Scotia residents evacuated their homes as 6 major fires are currently underway in Nova Scotia. Power outage affecting another 8,100 homes where the blaze damaged a transmission line, knocking out power to about 8,100 homes.
High winds are feeding the flames as it spreads throughout the province.
Peggy's Cove, a summer tourist destination has also been affected, where the fire is spreading from inland to the Atlantic ocean.
Fire pushes 3,000 people out of homes near HalifaxUpdated Sat. Jun. 14 2008 8:42 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
As residents evacuated from rural communities east of Halifax waited to find out if they could return home, two water bombers and three helicopters resumed their attacks on a nearby fire Saturday morning.
About 3,000 people have been left homeless by a brush fire burning south of Porters Lake. Fire officials say that so far they've not been able to determine the extent of damage to homes and cottages in the area. They've been hampered by heavy smoke and winds.
"The edge of the fire was so intense, so much smoke, they couldn't tell what was burned and what wasn't,'' Deputy chief Roy Hollett of the Halifax Regional Fire Department told The Canadian Press.
There was some good news overnight. Fire officials say winds, which at one point had reached 90 kilometres per hour, weakened substantially.
The fire began Friday afternoon and has scorched an area measuring eight kilometres long and two kilometres wide. Residents of Halifax, which is about 20 kilometres away, could see the smoke.
Crews battling the blaze were expecting some additional help Saturday, when a third water bomber is expected to arrive from Newfoundland.
Evacuation centres have been set up in community centres near Porters Lake to help the homeless.
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