Telecom companies say services withstanding wildfire challenges

Cellphone and internet service providers say their networks are holding strong despite some issues related to a wildfire in Halifax Regional Municipality and another raging several hours away in Shelburne County.

A spokesperson for Bell Aliant said in an email that four cellular towers in the evacuated areas are affected, "but the region is partially supported by overlapping coverage from nearby sites."

Katie Hatfield said people in some communities, including Clyde River in Shelburne County, may notice cellular congestion. Crews and generators have been deployed to locations where it is safe to access and work on the towers, she said. Clyde River is one of the sites that does not have safe access at this time, said Hatfield.

The latest information available on Monday from the provincial government was that the fire in Shelburne County covered 9,682 hectares and about 1,500 people had been evacuated from their homes.

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Bell crews are working to repair a damaged fibre cable that supports a cell tower in the Upper Tantallon area and Hatfield said that work was expected to be complete on Monday.

'I'm devastated': N.S. wildfire destroys home

2 years ago

Duration 2:00

Katherine Tarateski was told by RCMP that her Hammonds Plains, N.S., home burned in the wildfires that are ravaging parts of the province. Tarateski, who didn't have a chance to retrieve her pets before officials limited access to the area, is now left hoping her animals got out.

"The other affected sites are not safely accessible at this time but are impacted by a combination of fibre and power-related issues," she said.

A spokesperson for Nova Scotia Power said the utility started temporarily disconnecting power in the Hammonds Plains area just before 5:30 p.m. on Sunday at the request of Halifax Regional Fire.

Jacqueline Foster said that effort continued until about 8 p.m.

"This allowed first responders to safely fight the fire," she said in an email.

"Once it is determined the area is safe for our crews to enter, they will work to safely restore power to our affected customers as quickly as possible."

On Monday, officials in Halifax said that fire covered 788 hectares and about 16,400 people had to leave their homes.

Telcos represented at command centre

With power down, cellular towers rely on backup generators that eventually need to be refilled.

Eastlink spokesperson Jill Laing said the company's wired services are impacted in the areas of Shelburne County and Halifax Regional Municipality directly affected by the fire, "particularly where power has been turned down."

"That said, our mobile service continues to be stable," she said in an email. "We are monitoring the situation very closely."

Laing said several towers have damage, but that has not affected mobile service. Internet and video services in Lunenburg County and Liverpool were impacted by network damage sustained from the fires, but Laing said that had since been restored.

Shelburne County, N.S., wildfire spreading quickly

2 years ago

Duration 2:21

As the CBC's Gareth Hampshire reports, people had to leave their homes from Upper Clyde Road all the way to Barrington West. There are evacuation centres in Barrington at the municipal building and by the Shelburne town fire hall.

Eastlink will be automatically waiving all mobile data overage charges through to the end of June for customers in the evacuation areas, said Laing.

A spokesperson for Telus said none of their services or infrastructure had been affected by the fires as of Monday.

Representatives for all three companies are present at the provincial command centre, Premier Tim Houston told reporters during a briefing on Monday. Last September, Houston criticized the companies for not being more involved in co-ordination efforts following post-tropical storm Fiona.