'It's all just happened so fast': Islander returns to P.E.I. after escaping N.S. wildfires

Wildfires in Nova Scotia have destroyed homes and forced hundreds to flee including some Islanders who've had to return to P.E.I. and it has Islanders making plans for disaster in their own province.

Taylor Huestisand her husband, Kevin, escaped the forest fire that engulfed their neighbourhood inHammonds Plains, just outside of Halifax, on Sunday.

Both are safe and so are their three pets, a dog and two cats but as of Tuesday afternoon, the couple still didn't know whether their house was left standing.

"It's all just happened so fast," Huestis said. "I went inside and I looked out through our front window and I saw a huge smoke cloud...

"[Kevin] said 'Let's start packing some things up just in case.' And so we grabbed a couple litter boxes and some dog food and cat food. And he was like, 'OK, I'm just going go put some stuff in the car just so that we're OK. I'm ready just in case.' And then he came sprinting inside and he looked at me. And if you know my husband, you know, he doesn't yell. He's very cool, calm, collected. He looked at me. He said, 'Hey, we got to go now.'"

Kevin is a firefighter, so he went off to work to help combat the fires shortly after they settled in a hotel, Taylor said. He's still on duty in the Halifax area, but Taylor is now in Summerside, P.E.I., with her mother.

"I was just spiraling in that hotel. So I talked to my mom and she said 'Come home. Come home to P.E.I.'," she said.

"It was a hard drive. It was very, very emotional leaving... Being able to hug my mom, hug my dad, see my sister and my nephew, like see his face just light up I really needed that."

On Wednesday, mandatory evacuation notices were rescinded for parts of Hammonds Plains, and other areas affected by the fires.

Taylor Huestis said she's just happy she knows her family and pets are safe.

"I'm definitely one of the lucky ones. I know I am."

P.E.I. horse owners prepare for the worst

Nova Scotians pull together to rescue pets, farm animals from wildfire

1 year ago

Duration 2:16

As a raging wildfire forced people to flee from their homes in the Tantallon and Hammonds Plains areas, it left many pets and farm animals in a dangerous situation. Paul Palmeter has the story of some of the efforts that went into getting horses out of harm's way.

The experience in Nova Scotia has some Islanders worried about what they would do if they faced a similarscenario this summer.

A ministerial order issued Tuesday banned all fires on private property and provincial campgrounds until further notice. That's in addition to a an already existing prohibition on burning brush.

Opposition MLAshave questioned the government on whether there should have been more preparations for potential wildfires this summer following what was a particularly dry winter, with the Liberals asking for an evacuation and housing plan to be shared with the public.

Meanwhile, local horse owners are making their own preparations.

Laura Newcombe, a horse owner from Prince County, started making a list of fellow horse owners in the province so they could help each other in case of an emergency.

In Halifax, thousands of people had no choice but to leave their animals behind as fires drew nearer and many Nova Scotians had to make tremendous efforts to get their animals out of harm's way.

Newcombe hopes having some extra support would make things less harrowing in P.E.I. should a wildfire happen here.

"Seeing all of the fires happening in Nova Scotia and the tragedy and heartbreak of owners having to let horses go because they're unable to get trailers in really made me and a friend group of mine start talking about our own evacuation plans," Newcombe said.

We're all horse people and we know that heartbreak of not being able to do anything.-Laura Newcombe

"So I think having somewhere that the horse community can go to reach out to people that are nearby and maybe you don't know them, will be a huge asset for us if this is ever to happen."

Newcombe made a post on a Facebook group of fellow horse-owners asking for people who have trailers and are willing to offer them in emergency situations, such as floods or fires. She's added their contact information to a spreadsheet, and whether they could also offer emergency stabling.

She's had big success in Queens County, she said, but would like to see more people offer their names from the rest of the Island as well.

"We have like almost 50 people on the list," Newcombe said.

"In a situation like this, we're all horse people and we know that heartbreak of not being able to do anything. So I'm hoping to see it expand to other communities outside of the ones that I know specifically as well."