'People are checking in on other family members, and every morning at breakfast, there's at least one person crying,' she said, adding that her bags are already packed in case an evacuation is ordered. In southwestern Nova Scotia, the number of those displaced may not be as big, but the level of trepidation is just as high.Īmanda Sutherland, owner of The Cooper's Inn in downtown Shelburne, said some of her staff have had to leave the area, and she has a number of evacuees from the Barrington Lake fire staying at the inn.

A thick smoke plume was reported over Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Similar warnings were issued by the National Weather Service in Baltimore-Washington and the Philadelphia area, including parts of New Jersey, where officials warned sensitive groups to take precautions when going outside. In Pennsylvania, the Chester County Health Department said Thursday in a tweet that the 'smoke & haze from wildfires in Canada continue to linger,' and warned the air could still be unhealthy for older adults, young children and people with respiratory problems. Mary's County Department of Emergency Services, located about 80 miles (129 km) south of Washington D.C., warned residents in a tweet on Thursday that air quality might be impacted by the fires in southeastern Canada. The National Weather Service in Wakefield, Virginia, 164 miles (263 kilometers) south of Washington, D.C., issued an air quality alert for Friday for the Richmond, Virginia area due to smoke from wildfires across the northeast and Atlantic Canada. officials as far south as Maryland, Baltimore, Virginia and Pennsylvania reported being impacted by the Canadian wildfires. 'It is a miracle and a testament to the quick work of first responders.'

'We so far have no reported missing people or injuries,' Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said. In all, 16,000 Halifax-area residents have been evacuated from their homes.Įarlier in the day, fire officials announced that 50% of the Halifax fire had been contained, and they confirmed it had not grown since Wednesday - but it remained out of control. Meanwhile, municipal officials in Halifax have begun breaking the news to residents whose homes were lost to a fast-moving wildfire after they were evacuated earlier this week from subdivisions northwest of the city.ĭeputy fire Chief David Meldrum said an audit of damaged and destroyed properties had been completed, but he could not provide the latest numbers.įire officials said 200 structures, including 151 houses, have been claimed by the fire in suburban Halifax, which has been burning out of control since Sunday, as has the Barrington Lake fire.

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton said the Barrington Lake fire was under a 'major aerial attack.' The fires in Shelburne County have forced more than 5,000 people from their homes and cottages, 50 of which have been consumed by flames. 'It jumped up pretty quick with the high winds, low (humidity) and high temperatures,' Dave Rockwood, a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources, said Thursday in a briefing. Within hours, the local Roseway Hospital was evacuated and residents started preparing to leave. In all, there were four wildfires in the province burning out of control on Thursday, including the massive Barrington Lake fire in Shelburne County, which grew to more than 200 square kilometers (77 square miles) despite a constant bombardment of water and fire retardant from a fleet of water bombers and air tankers.Ī much smaller fire that started Wednesday received immediate attention after it prompted evacuations south of Shelburne, which is home to 1,300 people.

Crying suns alert