A forest fire that broke out Friday near Broad River is now largely contained.<\/p>\n
Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection with the department of lands and forestry says the fire consumed 32 hectares over the weekend.<\/p>\n
He says 20 staff and 6 volunteers from local fire departments were involved in knocking the fire down.<\/p>\n
The remote location had to be accessed using helicopters and ATVs.<\/p>\n
The only structure in the area was a cabin, which managed to escape any damage.<\/p>\n
Cabin owner Suzanne Verge says she believes the fire was started on their property by some hikers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey left a note saying that they come down the path and it got dark and they decided to stay by the water, made a fire,\u201d says Verge. \u201cI don\u2019t know, anyone using common sense wouldn\u2019t have started a fire, as dry as what it is cause it\u2019s going to burn down into the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Verge is thankful the fire didn\u2019t destroy their cabin but is baffled by the hiker\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, they left a note with five dollars saying here\u2019s five dollars for the wood. But, you dingbat, why did you start a fire?\u201d wonders Verge.<\/p>\n
Tinlgey says the fire is now 66 percent contained.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that means, crews on the ground have most of it wrapped with hose and they\u2019re just continuing to contain that outside perimeter, trying to limit the growth,\u201d says Tingley.<\/p>\n
He says crews don\u2019t anticipate the fire will get any larger but they\u2019re aware the forecast is calling for temperatures to rise later in the week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere it\u2019s burning so deep, our focus is on containing that outside perimeter so we do limit the growth,\u201d says Tiingley.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s hearing from the crews that the fire is burning at least a foot deep.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it get\u2019s this dry it\u2019s pretty challenging,\u201d says Tingley. \u201cThey have to spend that much longer digging things up, putting water on it, digging it up again.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says those crews will be on site for the next few days to ensure the fire is fully out.<\/p>\n
The fire is the largest of eight that were burning in the province last week.<\/p>\n
A dry hot summer has increased the fire risk for most of Nova Scotia and lead to burn bans being put in place.<\/p>\n
Tingley says the heavy rain that fell in parts of the province last week did provide some relief, but not for everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the areas where we really, really needed it, they got only light amounts,\u201d says Tingley.<\/p>\n
He recommends people check the Nova Scotia burn safe website<\/a> every day to learn whether or not it is safe to have a campfire.<\/p>\n