Nova Scotia firefighters fly to site of Manitoba-Ontario wildfires

It's going to be a strenuous two weeks for 20 firefighters who left Friday morning to fight wildfires along the Manitoba-Ontario border.

"They will likely be tenting for two weeks and going into the woods every day to work and coming home to tents and cooking their own suppers and going back to work in the morning,"said Jim Rudderham, forest protection operations manager, at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

"It is a long two weeks."

The crew members are experienced forest firefighters from Nova Scotia's Department of Nature Resources.

"There are fires all across the western provinces right now and many areas are in need of assistance. Manitoba is one of them and that's why we are going to help," Rudderham said.

"Resources all across western Canada, they are just starting to get tired now. They need some help, some replacements to come."

'Getting spread pretty thin right now'

Two wildfires are raging along the Manitoba-Ontario border. One is in Beresford Lake and one in Caddy Lake. The Nova Scotia crew has been dispatched to Beresford.

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On Thursday, the fire at Beresford Lake was 73,000 hectares, and the one just northeast of Caddy Lake was about 5,800 hectares.

Crew boss Robert Lefurgey said his members realize how taxed firefighters in western Canada are right now.

"The resources are getting spread pretty thin right now. They're looking for extra support."

And they know how tough the working conditions are.

'Rough go'

"We're going out to do our part, to help out with the wildfire situation in Manitoba. We're being deployed about 120 kilometres north of Winnipeg. There'll probably be a lot of line camping in the woods," he said.

"It is going to be a rough go. Camping in the woods in the middle of nowhere, wet muskeg conditions. No cell service. Hot, dry [in the day], nights will be quite cool. It'll be an experience."

More firefighters from Nova Scotia could be called upon if the wildfires continue to spread or new ones break out.

"We'll have to wait and see. It's up to those agencies, whether they need help or not," Rudderham said.