Nova Scotia Firefighters Salute Shooting Victims

Sirens rang out across Nova Scotia last night, when firefighters from across the province sounded their horns at exactly 7:00pm to pay tribute to those killed in the tragic events this weekend.

The idea to blast the truck sirens began making the rounds on social media Wednesday morning and by late afternoon over a hundred fire departments had signed on including those in Greenfield, Liverpool, Mill Village, North Queens and Port Medway.

John Long, a captain with the Liverpool fire service says it’s a fitting tribute.

“There’s some significance from what I can see. For the first responders, there was a retired firefighter who was one of the victims. But the spectrum, there’s obviously, the RCMP officer who was shot and the other that was wounded.”

On Monday, fire halls were lit up blue in mourning.

Long says because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are unable to mourn properly so they’ve had to come up with creative ways to do so.

“We feel for the first responders. We feel for the victims and their families, because of what we do by nature.”

RCMP say 23 people were killed from when the tragedy started to unfold Saturday in Portapique until the lone gunman was shot and killed by Police in Enfield, Sunday.

On Wednesday, Premier Stephen McNeil announced the creation of the Stronger Together Nova Scotia Fund to provide immediate and long-term support for the families of the victims.

The Canadian Red Cross will manage the fund and donations can be made on the Canadian Red Cross web site.

Anyone who wishes can also sign the province’s online book of condolences by following this link to the Nova Scotia.ca webpage.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson