Nova Scotia to complete almost all wildfire report recommendations by March

The California wildfires are a grim reminder to hundreds of Nova Scotians of what they endured when flames tore through areas of suburban Halifax and Shelburne County in 2023, destroying more than 200 homes and burning 25,000 hectares of forest.

Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection at the Department of Natural Resources, said it's been difficult to view the images from Los Angeles and neighbouring communities this week.

"It's devastating to watch," said Tingley. "I mean, we lived it here in Nova Scotia not even two years ago."

But Tingley is confident Nova Scotia will be better prepared to face the next wildfire thanks to advice it received last March in a review of the province's response to the 2023 fires.

The Nova Scotia government paid Calian, an Ontario-based consulting and research firm, $45,500 to do an "after-action report" on the wildfires that started on the South Shore at Barrington Lake and in the Halifax-area community of Upper Tantallon.

It made 50 recommendations, among them to better share information and co-ordinate response, update response plans, buy more equipment and hire more staff.

"The overall response was handled well," said Tingley. "Are there things that could be done better and will be done better? For sure. I do feel we're more prepared and we'll just continue to maintain that."

According to the department, the province has purchased fire hose, portable pumps, hand tools, fire trucks, tents, trailers, all-terrain vehicles, weather monitoring equipment, smartphones, tablets and mapping software.

Tingley said staff has also undergone additional training and different organizations are now working more closely together.

"The relationships have been reinforced, and kinda forged going through something like that," he said of the fires.  

He estimated about a dozen of the recommendations put forward by Calian have been completed and said he expects 45 to 48 to be completed by March.

"More equipment on the shelves, additional training for staff, I think those are going to be some of the most impactful [changes]," said Tingley.

He said the province had also stepped up public information campaigns to educate people about how they can prevent wildfires and better protect their homes and properties.

He said the California wildfires are another reminder of the threat.

"Looking across the country or in North America or even around the world, there just seems to be more of these high-profile, high-impact, catastrophic wildfires that are impacting communities."