Canada: Out of control historic fire continues to grow in Shelburne County

Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Dave Rockwood, who is based at the command post in Shelburne County, was reported to say Friday morning the fire now estimated to be at 21,515 hectares and added firefighters are doing the best they can under the prevailing conditions.

"You feel helpless because when these fires get up to these big raging fires, there really isn't anything that can stop and slow them down," he said. "It doesn't matter if we have 11, 12 aircraft on site, you might be able to steer the fire, but you are not stopping it.…

"Our pilots were reporting regularly, they just couldn't get into the areas we needed them because of the smoke conditions and because of the fire intensity."

Darrell Locke, the fire chief of the Shelburne Volunteer Fire Department who has been in the firefighting business for 48 years, reported to say that he has never seen anything like the fires in Shelburne County.

"This is nothing anybody down this way has seen before," he said. "This is nothing Nova Scotia has seen before.… It looks horrible in lots of places. Folks have lost everything."

He said that due to unsafe conditions for crews to tackle the fire from the ground, the area needs more air resources.

There were eight air tankers from New Brunswick and two water bombers from Newfoundland and Labrador fighting the fire near Barrington Lake, according to DNR on Friday morning, plus another near the town of Shelburne and a third in neighbouring Yarmouth County.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)