Four wildfires break out in three days in Annapolis Valley, at least two caused by lightning

Lightning strikes can smolder in the ground for a week before breaking out into a fire

Lightning is believed to be the cause of two of three wildfires that broke out over the weekend and Monday in the Annapolis Valley region. Two of the fires were considered remote and crews had to travel by helicopter and boat to get to them. The first fire was spotted Saturday near Big Molly Upsim Lake near Albany Cross, off Highway 10 in Annapolis County.

Jim Rudderham, the director of fleet and forest protection with the Department of Natural Resources, said the fire was spotted by a DNR helicopter doing reconnaissance flights in the area because of the lightning strikes. “The thunder cell that went through that area was quite heavy,” he said. “We step up our aerial detection flights and make sure we look a little closer and a little longer when that happens.”

Lightning strikes can smolder in the ground for a week before breaking out. Rudderham said there is also concern about possible lightning strikes from a system forecast to cross the province on Tuesday. “We need rain,” he said.

“It’s dry, things are starting to dry and we need some nice rain. These low pressure systems that are coming through are only bringing scattered showers and sometimes they don’t even make it to the ground because it’s so dry. We’re hoping it’s not going to build like it did last year, but it’s similar.”

The Big Molly fire burned just under a hectare before being contained by drops from the province’s aircraft and then the efforts of ground crews over a couple of days. The chopper pilot hooked up his bucket and dumped water until crews could get to the site, Rudderham said. Firefighters had to be flown to the site by helicopter because there was no road access.

On Sunday, a fisherman in a canoe along a river behind Murphy Lake in Kings County spotted a fire along the bank. DNR and Kentville firefighters responded and were able to secure a boat from a homeowner on the lake to make the half-kilometre paddle to the site, setting up a pump in the river to help extinguish the fire. It was under a hectare in size and was caused by an unextinguished campfire.

“Remote fires have their own challenges, for sure,” Rudderham said. “We have to get to the fires to put them out. Normally we have a helicopter on standby to go in and help direct them in.

Just because Google Maps show there’s a road there doesn’t mean there is one.” Helicopters and boats will carry in firefighting pumps and hoses needed to fight the fire, but sometimes finding a nearby water