Tammy Butler, who lives near the Mooseland wildfire, says it was “heartbreaking” to leave the home she and her husband worked hard to build when an evacuation order forced them out Thursday night.
After spending days wondering what she might return to, Butler says she was relieved to learn that Nova Scotia Emergency Management had lifted the evacuation order on Sunday morning, and that residents could head home.
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) declared the wildfire held at 1,447 hectares around 10:30 a.m., but cautioned evacuees to remain prepared in case conditions change.
As of 3:30 on Sunday afternoon, DNR says that crews are still actively responding near Sixth Lake in Halifax County, and that aircraft are on standby but not anticipated to be needed.
From the first alert
Butler explains that it wasn’t long after getting home from work on Wednesday that her and her husband noticed something wasn’t right.
“It was probably about four or five o’clock and we heard sirens, and then a lot of sirens, and being in a small community when fire trucks go by like that, you know it’s not good.”
Butler says they waited for a while and then found out that there was a forest fire nearby.
“We went to bed that night and got up the next day, carried on our business.”
She says even though her and her husband knew things were bad, they didn’t exactly know how bad.
“Thursday, probably around four o’clock or so, we could see a large amount of smoke above our home and got worried, of course, and then we got the alert.”
The alert caused instant panic, she says, and even though the fire was quite a distance away, she wanted to be as prepared as possible.
It was around eight o’clock Thursday night when she had to gather her family and leave on short notice.
“There was a previous alert for civic numbers further away from us.” Then another alert came in.
“My husband said, ‘That’s us, we gotta go.'”
Butler says they were fortunate to have a safe place to stay. At the time, two Red Cross evacuation centres were activated for anyone needing somewhere to go, and have since been closed.
“We have a lot of family and a lot of friends that have offered us a place to stay. We’re currently staying at my daughter and son-in-law’s, and they’ve been wonderful,” explains Butler, but says she’s worried about her home.
“It’s a fishing camp that we bought on Third Lake, and we renovated the whole thing and have made it into a beautiful, beautiful home.”
Butler and her husband were two of around 150 people evacuated from the area on Thursday night.
She says it was a heartbreaking decision to leave their home.
“My husband’s done 90% of the work, and we had to walk away and hope that when we get back, it’s there. Yes, we have insurance, but to replace that in a new build is not the same. So, we’re hoping the firefighters can look after it, and we’re back in our home very soon.”
Butler and her husband were relieved to return home safely on Sunday.
