Nova Scotia wildfires: Light rain will only hold for “hours,” fires still at 50% containment | FULL

Emergency officials provided an update on the ongoing wildfires in Nova Scotia on Friday, as scattered showers moved across parts of the eastern province this morning, providing some temporary relief to a province still struggling with its worst wildfire season on record.

“We are still at 50 per cent [containment], which is still a very good place to be at today. We are hopeful that we are going to be able to make some ground. The rain that we got this morning, while it was very welcomed, will really only hold us for a number of hours,” said David Steeves, a technician for resources with the North Coast Department of Natural Resources and Renewables.

Steeves added that the firefighters on the ground yesterday were “heroic” and that “morale is good.” He said that “the firefighters are committed to working hard to see this through. And that's what we're going to do. And we will be here until we do not need to be here.”

The forecast is calling for steady rain tonight and into Saturday, but two major wildfires continue to burn out of control – one northwest of downtown Halifax and another larger fire in the southwestern corner of the province. As of today, more that 21,000 people have been forced to leave their homes by evacuation orders – 16,000 in suburban Halifax and 6,700 in Shelburne County, which is about half of the municipality’s population.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/9738157/ns-wildfires-june-1-hot-temperatures-tantallon-shelburne-hammonds-plains/

Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc
Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ
Follow Global News on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt
Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB

#GlobalNews #wildfires #NovaScotia #NSnews #fires