Shelburne County residents pull together, plead for more wildfire resources

Residents of Nova Scotia's Shelburne County say community members are pulling together to help each other out as a record-sized forest fire burns, forcing about 2,000 people from their homes.

Sherry and Allan Crook had to leave their home in Port La Tour, N.S., when they received an emergency evacuation alert.

They grabbed a couple of T-shirts and pants, some jewelry, their passports, important documents and some pictures off the wall, not knowing if or when they would return. The fire, which started on Saturday, has grown to 17,000 hectares, and is now the largest on record in Nova Scotia.

Sherry Crook said before they got the order to leave, she had been thinking of offering space to someone else who might be in need.

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"I have a spare room. I could bring somebody here. And then it just changed fast. So I said, 'Well, I guess I'll be going to somebody's spare room,'" she said Wednesday through tears.

That spare room ended up being in the Sherose Island home of her friend, Donna Messenger, who has welcomed other families as well as the Crooks.

"Today is just the third of a day of unknown and anxiety and sadness and trying to keep your spirits up and trying to be there for our friends who have been displaced, and worried that we might become like them," Messenger said.

"Sometimes we just look at each other and say, 'I don't know what to do, I don't know how to feel.' … It's been a roller-coaster. We're just doing the best we can."

Messenger said opening her door to others was not so much a decision, but something she just instinctively did.

"How could you not?… How could you see somebody suffer or have no place to go to when you have plenty of space and food in the freezer? It's just the way this area works."

Messenger said she went out to get pizza on Tuesday night, and some of the staff working at the restaurant had also been displaced by the fire, but were still working.

"Everybody had tears in their eyes because we said, 'Thank you for so much for what you're doing, just being at Pizza Delight, just serving pizza to the community as they come in.'"

Not far away in Barrington Passage, Tyler and Autumn Nickerson, owner and manager of the Starboard Inn, have been offering free breakfast to evacuees, firefighters and volunteers.

"We felt it was the least that we could do," said Tyler. "Any small act of kindness can go a long way.… We're here and we have a kitchen and we have food and we know people are in need."

Autumn said about 30 to 40 people have come to the restaurant to take them up on their offer, but she's hoping to see a lot more.

"Everyone is very thankful and I'm happy to see everyone coming out and enjoying a good day with us."

Tyler said it's typical of people in the area to help each other out in a time of need.

"People here, they're strong, they come together, resilient.… We're human and we see the human element come out when tragedy strikes. We're all just trying to be human and be kind and to get through it as a community."

Province, feds need to do more, say residents

But residents say they feel more could be done to help combat the blaze that's devastating their area.

"If we don't have the resources, then go somewhere and get them," said Allan Crook. "Think outside the box. Put something else in place. But it's more or less like, let's just let the fire burn itself out, and forget about southwest Nova."

Messenger said she'd like to see more water bombers fighting the Shelburne County fire.

"Please do something as soon as possible.… The eyes of the world are upon us all here. Something's got to happen. People are waiting for something to get better. I just hope it happens soon rather than later."

The Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday afternoon a helicopter, two water bombers from Newfoundland and Labrador and eight planes from New Brunswick that drop a mix of water and fire retardant are at the scene. It said there's also 70 department firefighters and 40 volunteer and municipal firefighters battling the blaze.

Premier Tim Houston told the CBC Wednesday morning he will be requesting assistance from the federal government to help fight the forest fires.