Nova Scotia forest fire risk remains high, thus no-burn order remains

Firefighterscontinueto battle hot spots froma firenear a Halifax business park andofficials said Tuesday afternoon they weren't prepared to declare it extinguished just yet.

• N.S. burning restrictions

Fire crews resumedbattling theblazenearBayersLakeearly Tuesdaymorning after it broke out on Monday.

The fire is about six hectares in size and officials with theDepartment of Natural Resources said someone most likely started it by accident.

Feeling the forest for hidden fires

Dave Steevesof Natural Resourcessaid they had11 people in the woods this morning. Halifax Fire sent seven people out.

"Their objectives today were to re-enforce the initial attack lines that we established last night.We do have a hose line around the perimeter of the fire, so the fire is not growing," he said.

"We're hoping the weather is going to work in our favour and give us a chance to make some significant ground today."

Fire crews wereon hands and knees feeling the forest floorto find any hot spots. Steeves said the time-consuming work is tiring and won't likely be complete for a few days.

"When it comes to any type of wild-lands situation, fire can hide in some pretty dark places:under rocks, under roots,"he said. "Right now we're in our mop-up phase."

Crews took a supper break late in the afternoon and planned to be on site until dark.

Halifax Fire tweeted that DNRwould have crews on scene until there was a significant amount of rain.

The fire bordered on power lines that are some of the main lines carrying electricity across the province. Nova Scotia Power said clear-cutting around the power lines helped starve the fire of material to burn, helping to contain it.

No-burn order in place

The dry, hot weather has Mainland Nova Scotia under a no-burn order, while Cape Breton has restrictions on when people can start fires.Brush burning and campfires are allowed there only between seven at night and eight in the morning.

There is ahigh risk of wildfires in mostof the province.