The Halifax Regional Municipality is advising residents of the following updates as a result of the ongoing fires.

Site visit for impacted residents

The municipality has been contacting residents who have registered as evacuees of the area of significant impact. To date, staff have had phone conversations with most residents as well as face-to-face discussions as follow up for those whose homes have been destroyed.

This is an ongoing process and it will take time to contact every property owner who has been affected. It is important that residents with homes in the area of significant impact contact 311 to provide their telephone numbers so municipal staff can complete personal calls. It is recognized that this an extremely difficult time for all those impacted and staff are working as quickly as possible to make contact.

An email was distributed yesterday to all those property owners who are believed to have had property destroyed. Those whose homes have been destroyed were offered the opportunity to visit the site today at 11a.m. via bus. Several buses were secured to ensure sufficient capacity. The difficult decision to issue an email was made after determining it was most important to ensure residents learned about the site visit opportunity, even if they hadn’t been previously contacted directly by a municipal staff person.

The municipality is working to schedule additional site visits over the coming days for residents who have lost their homes due to the fires and others affected in area of significant impact.

We recognize that this has been a very traumatic experience for many residents and that they have significant interest to visit their properties. Supports are being provided at the evacuation centre including victim services workers and mental health support. 

It is critical to remember that this is still an active firefighting area, with significant physical and environmental hazards. The timing of coordinated access for residents to the site moving forward is dependent on direction from incident command that it is safe to do so.

Evacuation registry

Residents and businesses whose properties are located in the area of significant impact on the evacuation map must immediately register with 311 via the online form (or by calling 1.800.835.6428), as staff are contacting residents whose homes have been destroyed. It is important that residents with homes in the area of significant impact contact 311 to provide their telephone numbers so municipal staff can complete personal calls.

Evacuation information and response

The status of the evacuation areas continues to be assessed and updates will be provided as soon as they are available.  

Residents are not allowed to return to their homes until they are advised that it is safe to do so by municipal authorities. Residents must remain clear of the evacuation area and refrain from filming and taking photos of the fire area, including flying personal drones.

Those who have evacuated are advised that if they do not have access to their medication, they can contact any pharmacy and request a renewal. For more information, please see the guidelines provided by the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia.

View the most recent evacuation map of the fire evacuation areas and state of local emergency zone that outlines the area of significant impact.

The Canada Games Centre evacuation centre at 26 Thomas Raddall Drive is open until further notice.

Nova Scotia Health’s mobility primary care clinic is hosting a drop-in clinic at the Canada Games Centre on Friday, June 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Major insurance companies and their representatives will again be available to speak with affected residents at the Canada Games Centre from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, June 2. Future opportunities to speak with their representatives will be available in the coming days. 

Comfort centres

Comfort centre details are as follows:

• Black Point and Area Community Centre | 8579 St Margarets Bay Road. The comfort centre will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, June 2.
• Beaver Bank Kinsac Community Centre | 1583 Beaver Bank Road. The comfort centre will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, June 2.

Please visit: halifax.ca/fire or follow @hfxgov on Twitter for all fire updates. 

Source: Release