INGLISVILLE, NS - Firefighters from Lawrencetown responded to a grass/brush fire Monday afternoon, April 23 on the South Mountain at 1864 Inglisville Road after a resident started a controlled burn and it got away on him.
A resident from Brooklyn Road at the foot of the North Mountain saw the smoke and called it in, said Lawrencetown Chief Mike Stoddard at the scene.
He said the fire was started despite the provincial Burn Safe map designating April 23 as a restricted burn day for all of Nova Scotia. That means burning can only take place between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. Residents can check the burn map for change of designation at 2 p.m. every day.
Lawrencetown called in firefighters from Bridgetown at 2:52 p.m. and the Bridgetown crew brought their Gator side-by-side that has a large tank on the back that can hold almost 100 gallons of water. A gas-powered pump allows firefighters to spray hot spots as they drive over rough terrain.
While the Gator was deployed down a narrow woods road and then across the bottom of two large fields to douse flames and hot spots at the edge of the woods, other firefighters carried backpacks full of water and manually sprayed the fire.
A Department of Natural Resources officer was also on the scene and interviewed a local resident.
By 4:15 p.m. the fire was considered to be out and mop-up operations finished. Firefighters hauled blackened hose out of the fields and left them at the side of the road.
