N.S. 2023 numbers surpass all of 2022

Wildfires this year are up almost 300 per cent over

2022, and the continued dry weather means things are very possibly going to get worse.

Only two months into wildfire season, there have been two fires of significant concern: one near Hassett in Digby County and another in Little Harbour, Shelburne County that burned 118 and 56 hectares, respectively.

There had been 163 fires reported so far as of May 23, which had burned a combined 280 hectares. That's up from 60 fires at the same time last year. While 3,311 hectares burned in 2022 in the same timeframe, most of that was from the Horseshoe Lake wildfire in Yarmouth County.

At the time this story was written last week, there had been 20 new fires reported in the previous five days.

This year's total has already surpassed the 152 that happened in 2022.

“We're well above our usual average (to this point),” says

Kara McCurdy, a fire prevention officer with the province's Department of Natural Resources and Renewables. “But, it's what happens in spring. It's always the time of year when we get the most calls. Then things start to green up and it slows down. Then picks up again in August.”

She said what's significant is that the duff moisture code, which measures the moisture content in the medium-sized

wood and other decaying matter on the forest floor, is high to extreme, meaning there isn't a lot of moisture. That contributes to more intense and faster-moving fires.

“That's unusual for May,” McCurdy said. “We used to see those numbers in July, so it's ahead of schedule.”

She said the build-up index, which measures a combination of the dryness of all materials, has also been very high in Shelburne, Annapolis

and parts of Digby and Lunenburg counties.

“Those are going to drive the fire spread and the difficulty in suppressing it because it's going to burn deeper into the ground than it usually would this time of year,” McCurdy said.

She said Environment Canada's recent precipitation status shows it is abnormally dry in the province and river water levels are much below normal.

This is also the time of year when trees are using all their energy for spring leaf development and growth, meaning there is less moisture in them which adds to the dryness of the fuels.

“There's a combination of things going on right now,” she said.

She said there needs to be substantial, steady rain for three-plus days to have any positive impact in the forests and wooded/brush areas. A day of rain here or there isn't much help, as the rain just runs off the hard, dry ground.

The Shelburne County Little Harbour fire burned perilously close to houses, and McCurdy said that should serve as a reminder to people to make sure the area around their homes is properly maintained to decrease the risk of it being affected by a wildfire, and to have a 72-hour emergency kit ready in case an evacuation is ordered.

She also said people need to check and abide by burning restrictions from the department and from municipalities as they pertain to when, where and how they can have a fire and what they can burn.