oh my gosh..

the fire in our province in the city i used to live in is bad.. very bad.

A major forest fire in the Spryfield area south of Halifax forced up to 1,000 people to flee their homes Thursday.
There were also unconfirmed reports that up 12 houses have been destroyed by blaze, which began in the early afternoon on Thursday.
Halifax Regional Fire Services confirmed that it had evacuated nearly 300 homes along a 20-street section in Spryfield where firefighters were battling a major fire.
The fire as seen from across the Northwest Arm on Thursday. (Submitted by Will Sommerville)
About 100 firefighters were battling the blaze in an area between Herring Cove Road and Purcell's Cove Road, and they continued into the evening.
The evacuation affected people living along the 600 block on Herring Cove Road and from Ferguson's Cove Road to Hebridean Drive along Purcell's Cove Road.
"What it means is the fire is moving very rapidly. There is two helicopters in the air right now and multiple apparatuses and firefighters on the scene right now," Halifax Fire Service spokesman Lloyd Currie said late Thursday afternoon of the municipal response.
Currie added that the situation has been changing since the fire began Thursday afternoon.
"The fire right now is paralleling Purcell's Cove Road, and in some sections it's crossed," Currie said. "I can't say the size of the fire right now, but it's very large and moving very quickly."
Halifax Regional Municipality spokeswoman Shaune MacKinlay said HRM had initially set up an evacuation centre at the Chocolate Lake Recreation Centre but decided to move it to Captain William Spry Centre, where there were more amenities for evacuees. The Red Cross was also there to assist residents, MacKinlay said.
Air tankers

The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources has called in additional air support from New Brunswick to help fire crews battle the blaze.
"Right now, we have three of our own helicopters," Walter Fanning, the department's director of forest protection services, told CBC News on Thursday evening.
"We've also called in air tankers from New Brunswick. These are fixed-wing aircrafts. They carry a fair amount of water, and we have three of those, plus there's a bird-dog aircraft."
The helicopters can scoop up water from ponds and lakes in the area while the New Brunswick crews will land at Stanfield International Airport to refuel their water tanks, Fanning said.
One woman who lives in the Governor's Brook subdivision off Herring Cove Road said she was able to walk up right near the flames Thursday evening. Tessa Thomas said she was surprised that there were no emergency officials on hand to keep people away.
"The woods that the fire's in right now runs 400 metres from the houses in Governor's Brook, and if the fire changes, the fire, it will be in their backyards," Thomas said.
"And there's no firefighters. I had no problem getting to the smoke and the fires," she said.
Michele Raymond, the MLA for Halifax Atlantic, the riding affected by the fire, said a couple of houses in the area were destroyed.
"As you can see, we've all been moved out," Raymond said. "Children who are old enough are being told to leave.
"I, like anyone else, cannot go home as it seems to be moving this way."
Chigaya Smith, who lives on Fortress Drive just off the Purcell's Cove Road, said she and her husband were forced to flee their home when they saw black smoke coming their way.
"I called 911, asked what's the situation because we didn't hear anything. No announcement whatsoever," Smith said Thursday afternoon. "I asked the lady if she knows anything. She said no."
Smith believed her house was one of the ones that caught fire.
"All the papers, my passport, my husband's passport, all the valuable things… [are] gone," Smith said.
A CBC-TV crew was forced to flee an area along Aarons Way just off Purcell's Cove Road when the wind shifted and sent flames its way.

Spryfield Area Fire

April 30, 2009 10:45 pm
Evacuation Area
Streets Evacuated
Pets
Medication
Metro Transit
Shelters
Evacuation Area
Traffic is BLOCKED OFF ON HERRING COVE ROAD AT BRONSON AVE - THERE IS NO ACCESS TO HERRING COVE ROAD PAST THIS POINT. BRONSON AVE IS SLIGHTLY BEFORE HOLLY DR
Traffic is now flowing and permitted past Sussex St on the Herring Cove Rd.

On the Purcell's Cove Road you cannot go past Williams Lake Road.

Do not attempt to enter the evacuated area / streets - it is too dangerous. Police will be patrolling the area all night.
There are a number of streets that are evacuated and blocked off from the herring cove road. Streets on side of Holly Drive down to Hebridean Dr (list below) are blocked off and evacuated
Streets Evacuated and/or blocked off
Fergusons Cove Road to the look off
Fortress Drive
Aarons Way
Purcells Cove road from the 700 block onward
Ships lane
Devil's Hill Road
Ann Court
Fergusons Cove Road
Stanbrae Road
Country Cres
Fire Road
Glencairn Lane
John Brackett Dr
Holy Stone On The Sea Rd
Powers Drive
Shore Road
Joes Drive
Dempsey Lane
Margaret Drive
Hebridean Drive
Pelham Ln
Glen Baker Dr
Dale Ave
Primrose Ave
Arbustus Ave
Iris Ave
Lockwood Ave
Sarah Dr
Barry Cresent
Barclay Ave
Fotherby Ave
Holly Dr
Marie Ave

along with all of those streets, the smaller streets off of those streets are closed too.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia...e-halifax.html

I called my best friend, the girl i stay with every summer and sit for, my childhood friend this afternoon because I was worried. She was ok at that time. Since then the fire shifted and they have had to evacuate...they are NOT insured, and are apartment dwellers. The fire from what I have heard is little more than a few streets away at this point. If the fire hits, they will lose EVERYTHING.. of course, the important things like her and her husband kal-el and Mya and mitchell are ok. But what a loss.. Kal's parents just bought them a new beautiful sleigh bed, a furniture set, a flat screen television and a new computer. I know its just material things but I hurt for them nonetheless.. it feels like they just started getting some nice living arrangements with nice things and now they are threatened with loss.

They packed up the kids dearest toys, and photo albums, clothes, essentials and the things that are the most needed(including I guess the video game systems as they were easily packable into a bag) and left the rest.

I am trying to be positive for them, and praying.. but i have this sick sense of dread in the pit of my stomach and I had it as soon as i heard about the fire.

Please help me to pray for them. Please pray that we get some rain, that the firefighters get a hold on this. I know its often worse elsewhere, but this has the potential to be just as tragic.

Her building is the one I was planning to move into permanently in june or july.. that may not be the case now. And the other tragic thing is one portion of this are she is in, mainly right around her, is ALL low income families struggling to survive, who live there because of the cheap rent so they can afford other things more easily. If they lose everything it will be so hard to regain it.

And then their is the thought of the tragic loss of all that inner city forest, the devastation to an area that was hit particularly hard during Juan(hurricane in 2004) and is still recovering, and the animals that populate those forests.

(rain)))))))))))))))))))))))) my thought and prayers are with everyone there

[Elysium]

Hi Rainbowzz...

I'll be prayin' and sending good thoughts and wishes to all your friends. I'm glad they are safe!! I hope that the fire does not hurt their homes.

Take care...

[gimmeice]

((((((((((((((((( Rainbowzz ))))))))))))))))))))
My thoughts are with all the people in that area, I hope things get under control soon.

[Hunny]

Rainbowzz,

Whoa, so incredible devastating

Here is hoping you are able to support your friend for the next while.



Ice

[Christina86]

(((((((((((('bowzz))))))))))))))
((((((((((Halifax peeps))))))))))))

I'll pray that nobody gets hurt. Please take care of yourself.

[splitimage]

(((Rain)))

How scary, I'll be keeping you and your friends in my thoughts. I'm glad that your friends are safe, & I really hope they get the fire under control before it reaches there home.

--splitimage

[sabby]

((((((((((( Rain & Friends )))))))))))))))

I'm so sorry this is happening hon. Prayers going out to all for safety.


sabby

[chalmette70043]

(((((Rain)))) and your friends and all the others going through this bad fire. Ya'll stay strong. and I'll be hoping hard that you get the rain.

Rain, if you know of or could find out of any local shelters accepting clothes, toiletries, blankets, pillows, etc. I'd like to send some. Something local, not Red Cross. Maybe a school there. Or someone in particular you know that needs it. And also an animal shelter, if you could get an email to contact them. I'd like to send something to them, but cant afford to ship heavy bags of food. Maybe a gift certificate, but what pet store?

When you get a chance just let me know. Pm me. Keep with your family and friends right now. Ya'll gonna need each other to rely on through this. You stay safe and i'll be wishing the best for you all.

I hope ya'll get drenched with rain
hugs,
chal

[_embrace]

I can't believe there is someone else from Nova Scotia here! I don't post much, but us eastern Canadians seem to be few and far between on this type of forums.

I too have friends in Spryfield, and am SO glad that they got the fire under control. I feel very strongly for those who were affected...some people lost everything they had. Such a shame. The rain we got (after so many days of dry weather) truly was a blessing, even if it came after a lot of destruction.

[nightbird]

((((Rain))))

I am so sorry this is happening to people!!!

I will keep them all in my thoughts and prayers...

They will make it through, I just believe that!

xoxoxoxo

Hi everyone!

Somewhat sad, but somewhat good news.

The fire is now out.

Much inner-city forestation was lost however, as well as approximately 20 homes were totally destroyed and several others damaged. Thankfully, it did not cross over into the low-income area where my best friend lives, and they did not lose their apartment full of everything they have worked hard for

They are now home, thank god. What a releif.

Still very sad for the people who did lose everything, literally, as when they had to evacuate they had literally five minutes to grab some stuff and get out as it was honestly in their yards at that time.. so they lost pretty much everything.

I dont know if this is a blessing, because its still sad that much was lost, but the area of homes that were lost were high priced/mostly "rich" folks, in fact mostly summer homes. Perhaps this is best because those folk would have had insurance and money to rebuild and the like.. however it is still very sad.

On any hand.. there was still a mass devastation to that inner city forest, in an area that was also a historic property in halifax and had a park in it as well. It will be a long time before anyone can enjoy those places again, but everything comes around