Nova Scotia saw its least active wildfire season on record in 2024
It would appear Nova Scotians are changing the way they burn — the province saw its least active wildfire season on record this year, following its most devastating season ever.
There were only 83 wildfires across Nova Scotia in the 2024 season, burning about 47.5 hectares of land, slightly more than double the size of the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site.
The figures are well below the 10-year average of 185.4 wildfires and 3,277 hectares of land per year, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables.
“That’s great news for Nova Scotia, particularly in contrast with last year, where we had the most hectares burned and certainly the most impacts to communities,” said Scott Tingley, the department’s forest protection manager.
Crews responded to a total of 220 fires in 2023, when blazes burned through more than 25,000 hectares and 200 homes were destroyed in Shelburne County and suburbs outside Halifax, making it the worst wildfire season since Natural Resources started keeping digital records in 2011.
This graphic illustrates what 25,096 hectares and 47.5 hectares looks like compared to Halifax:
Tingley said the 2024 season certainly had the potential for wildfires, but there was a heightened awareness of the dangers of domestic burning and the need to burn safely after last year’s events.
“People knew how serious it was if they weren’t following the rules,” said Tingley, noting that 97 per cent of wildfires are started by human activity.
“We certainly think the public awareness and just people being diligent and the hard work of Nova Scotians contributed to keeping those numbers low.”
Tingley said another factor was the quick response by fire departments to the fires that did break out.
He said although there were hot stretches throughout the summer, it was also humid, producing conditions that often come with lower winds and therefore a lesser risk of wildfires spreading.
Wildfire season runs from mid-March to mid-October. During that period, daily burn restrictions are in place.
$600K in fines, fees issued this year
In an effort to prevent wildfires, Nova Scotia increased the fine amount for violating those restrictions to $25,000.
Natural Resources took a zero-tolerance approach to enforcement. The department issued 19 fines of $25,000. The RCMP also issued at least two fines equivalent to that amount.
A victim surcharge and HST also apply, bringing the total to $28,872.50. That amounts to more than $606,322 in fines and fees issued this year.
A spokesperson for Natural Resources said collected fines are “directed back to government.”
Darrell Locke, who helped fight the province’s largest wildfire ever in Shelburne County last year, said he noticed an uptick in calls about illegal burning.
“We felt like we were kind of banging our heads against the wall for a number of years. But folks are finally paying attention,” said Locke, chief of the Shelburne Volunteer Fire Department.
“Folks here are timid and any signs of smoke in the air at all, we were getting a call and in some cases, it was a worthwhile effort that we go because the fire was still small and we were able to get on it quickly.”
John Lowe, district chief of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency, said he believes new artificial intelligence cameras that were installed earlier this year around the municipality were a valuable asset to the department this season.
The pilot project saw cameras placed atop towers in Hammonds Plains, Musquodoboit Harbour and Middle Sackville that monitored the landscape for signs of smoke 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Lowe said the cameras did not pick up any active wildfires, but did spot smoke during times when burning was restricted, prompting fire officials to investigate.
“It did a great job. People were very shocked to find out that, yeah, you weren’t reported [by someone], you were reported through a camera,” said Lowe, adding that some of those burns would not have been detected otherwise.
Lowe said the company that provided the cameras, FireScout, is going in a different direction with its technology. But he said the department is looking at other options for AI cameras headed into next season.
In the year since wildfires burned through Shelburne County and parts of Upper Tantallon and Hammonds Plains, N.S., a lot of work has been done to understand how emergency management teams responded. Aly Thomson explains the biggest changes implemented by both the province and the Halifax Regional Municipality.
