Crews battle wildfire in remote area of Cape Breton

CBC

a day ago

Crews are battling a wildfire in a remote area of Cape Breton's Richmond County.
The blaze started around 5 p.m. AT Thursday on Three Rivers Road in Framboise, about 66 kilometres southwest of Sydney, according to a news release from the Municipality of the County of Richmond.
The fire is about 15 hectares in size and has crossed at least one roadway, the release says.
No evacuation orders have been issued, but residents are being asked to remain vigilant.
One old trailer, vacant for over 20 years, has been lost in the blaze. A residence has been soaked down as a precaution and another has a sprinkler system set up.
'They're making progress'
Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection with the province's Natural Resources Department, said those two homes are the only ones in the vicinity of the fire, but there is no imminent threat to properties.
He said there are 17 staff members from Natural Resources are on the scene, as well as rough 12 volunteer firefighters.
"Crews were on site early so they're making progress," Tingley told CBC's Information Morning Nova Scotia.
On Thursday evening, multiple volunteer fire departments fought the fire, but weren't able to contain it. Ground crews focused on extinguishing the blaze and saturating surrounding areas to reduce the risk of the wildfire spreading.
Most of those crews left for the night, but were prepared to return if conditions worsened.
Lois Landry, warden for the Municipality of the County of Richmond, said the area is quite rural and sparsely populated. She said cellphone service is not good, which is a concern when trying to communicate with emergency crews on the ground.
"There's efforts afoot to try to improve that but it's times like this really where that lack of service is really significant," Landry said in an interview Friday morning.
The province issued a fire ban for most of Nova Scotia on Thursday following several days of warm, sunny weather. There was a little reprieve from hot and dry conditions as rain fell overnight into Friday.