Municipal officials in Kings County are calling for people to stay out of mandatory evacuation zones as the Lake George wildfire remains out of control.
Dave Corkum, mayor of the Municipality of the County of Kings, told CBC’s Maritime Noon that people have been driving into evacuation zones near the fire on ATVs to get a closer look.
“We’re asking people … to stay the heck out of these evacuation zones for their own personal safety, but also for our first responders,” Corkum said. “They’re putting not only themselves at risk, but they’re also putting our first responders at risk.”
An update from the Department of Natural Resources Monday said the fire is “burning deep.” It has grown slightly to 288 hectares in size, but no structures have been damaged.
The update said 35 Department of Natural Resources staff are on scene, along with 23 local firefighters, 39 from B.C., two planes from Newfoundland and Labrador, four from the Northwest Territories, six helicopters and 18 pieces of heavy machinery.
With temperatures expected to reach the high 20s in Kings County today, Corkum said the weather is causing a problem for firefighters.
“I’ve never seen it this dry,” he said. “And then with maybe the winds coming up, that is a big concern to us.”
More than 350 homes and cottages around Lake George and the west side of Aylesford Lake have been evacuated.
Corkum says 205 households have registered at the Red Cross evacuation centre at the Louis Millett centre in New Minas, but only three people have needed to stay the night. He said most people are staying with family members or in hotels.
Corkum said nobody in the evacuation zones has been allowed to return to their homes.
The Baxters Harbour wildfire, a smaller fire that ignited in Kings County on the weekend, is under control, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
“It was a very small fire and, due to fast action, that was put under control,” Corkum said.
