The disaster response team helps Halifax businesses recover from wildfires

Halifax businesses affected by the wildfires are receiving support from a disaster response team set up to help them recover.

The team was created to help businesses navigate the steps many are beginning to take as they try to bounce back from the Tantallon fire, which damaged or destroyed more than 200 buildings.

“We’re just making sure they know they have an organization they can call to help them navigate all the programs, the resources and the tools they need,” said Jason Guidry, the director of commerce and international partnerships in the Halifax partnership.

The organization, the borough’s economic development group, deployed the disaster response team in conjunction with Discover Halifax and the county’s business development agency, Invest Nova Scotia.

It started trying to contact companies a few days after the fire broke out on May 28. Since then, more than 300 businesses have been called, including more than 100 home-based businesses in the area.

“Some were somewhat hampered, at the very opposite end of the spectrum where they were completely devastated,” Guidry said.

Earlier this month, the county announced one-time grants of $2,500 to small businesses and farmers affected by evacuation orders in the Tantallon area and in Shelburne County, where a major wildfire spiraled out of control.

Part of the team’s job involves identifying potential gaps in available financial aid programs.

Guidry has worked with the store Aquarica Tropical Fish. The owner estimates it lost about $10,000, but he’s not sure if it qualifies for state aid.

Aquarica’s store is in Bedford, but its storage facility is in Westwood Hills, where the fire started. All the fish kept there died.

As the store is registered in Bedford, which was outside the evacuation zone, and has not been closed during the fires, owner Paul Chang isn’t clear if it meets the criteria for relief, though he said there was little he could do to prevent what happened. happened.

“We didn’t have access to our inventory for two weeks, and we didn’t have access to our livestock, which was also kept in our Westwood facilities for two weeks,” says Chang, who started Aquarica about 5½ years ago.

‘We lost about 200 fish’

He was quickly allowed back to the facility to try and save some fish while the area was still under an evacuation order, but he couldn’t save them all.

When it was finally safe to go back, Chang returned to his storage room to find “a soup of dead fish” and a major cleanup job.

“We lost about 200 fish, including freshwater and saltwater. We lost about 150 coral fragments that we were cultivating,” Chang explains. “They just died from bad water conditions or a lack of nutrition.”

He said his insurance would not cover the loss of his livestock, so he expected there would be no way to claim any aid.

However, Guidry has spoken to the provincial Ministry of Economic Development and said it has indicated that Aquarica may be eligible because the storage facility is located in the evacuation zone.

Chang now plans to apply.

Province has approved 370 applications

“We’ve got things back on track,” Chang said. “And so we’re on the road back. Customers have come back over the past few weeks and supported us.”

The county has already expanded its relief program to support more affected businesses.

It has approved 370 applications under the Small Business Assistance Program in Halifax and Shelburne County as of Tuesday for a total of $925,000.

In a statement to CBC News, the Department of Economic Development said it “continues to work with the business community to assess the ongoing impacts.” It encourages business owners to email SBWRP@novascotia.ca with questions.