Nova Scotia’s Long Lake wildfire ‘being held’ after burning for almost four weeks

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This article was published 08/09/2025 (395 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HALIFAX – The status of the Long Lake wildfire in western Nova Scotia was upgraded Monday to “being held” after burning out of control for almost four weeks and destroying 20 homes.

Provincial fire officials also announced that a group of evacuees from 19 homes in Annapolis County would be allowed to return home Tuesday – the second group to be granted permission to do so since last week.

“It is quite a milestone for us,” Jim Rudderham, spokesman for the provincial Natural Resources Department, told a virtual briefing. “The fire is four weeks old on Wednesday. So that was a lot of hard work by a lot of people to get to this point.”

The fire has burned 84 square kilometres of woodlands.

Rudderham said that when a wildfire is classified as being held, it means it is not likely to grow as long as conditions do not change.

Fire officials said there was a low risk of flames reaching the areas where residents have been allowed to return home.

Still, evacuation orders remain in place for about 110 civic addresses, most of them in and around the area of West Dalhousie, N.S., a small rural community about 130 kilometres west of Halifax.

The fire started near Long Lake on Aug. 13 and quickly spread to the north, where it destroyed 20 homes in West Dalhousie area. The blaze forced about 1,000 people to evacuate their neighbourhoods, though most of those living on the eastern side of the fire were allowed to return last Wednesday.

On Monday, Rudderham said light rain moved across the area on Sunday and into Monday, giving firefighters a bit of a break from the hot, dry weather that has led to drought-like conditions across much of the province. 

“This past week, our crews worked very hard on the ground and from the air to continue to try to contain this wildfire,” he said. “(With) all the work that they did through the week, the containment held. And they’re quite happy about that.”

Scott Tingley, Nova Scotia’s forest protection manager, said that with the perimeter of the fire being held, firefighters using heavy equipment and aircraft are now working their way toward the interior, where hot spots and sporadic fires remain.

“We’re starting to feel quite good about the status of the fire,” he said. 

Dustin Enslow, deputy warden of Annapolis County, thanked volunteer firefighters as well as those who have come from other provinces to tame the fire.

“It’s just truly astonishing the amount of work that’s been completed,” he told the briefing. “We are finally getting more and more positive news.”

The next step is to bring the fire completely under control. There was no indication how long that would take. But officials have said it would be later this fall before the fire is extinguished.

Officials believe the fire was ignited by lightning strikes.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday his Liberal government recognizes the need to provide more funding for Canada’s firefighting capabilities, given the destruction caused by wildfires this year.

“We need to continue to invest in all aspects of fire prevention,” Carney said after making an announcement in St. John’s, N.L. “That’s everything from our firefighters to our water bomber capacity. You will be hearing more about all of those aspects in the coming weeks.”

On Sunday, ground crews confirmed they had finished surrounding the burned area with fire breaks, which includes open areas carved from the woods with heavy equipment and the installation of water hoses in key locations.

There have been 147 wildfires reported so far this season in Nova Scotia, but the Long Lake fire has been the biggest by far, consuming 84 of the 85 square kilometres burned in total.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2025.