HALIFAX — Firefighters were working through the night to battle a blaze that broke out in woodlands on the western edge of Halifax on Tuesday, but a municipal official said the fire posed no threat to structures.
The Halifax fire department confirmed crews were on the scene near the Susies Lake area, not far from the Bayers Lake business park.
Local authorities said a Nova Scotia Health outpatient clinic was being evacuated due to smoke billowing from a nearby forest, while people in a commercial building on Dugger McNeil Drive were also ordered to leave.
The Department of Natural Resources said in a social media post Tuesday evening that the Susies Lake fire had grown to an estimated at 25 to 30 hectares in size.
It was burning out of control but progress was being made, the posting said.
The department said 12 of its firefighters as well as 30 firefighters from the Halifax fire department were working on the blaze, some staying overnight.
The post said one of its helicopters was dropping water on the blaze while small air tanker planes from New Brunswick that had been deployed to help the fight were headed home. But, it said, those planes could return if necessary.
The department asked people not to operate drones in the wildfire area as it is illegal and may result in a $25,000 fine under the Forests Act.
Halifax Regional Municipality District Chief Steve Bussey confirmed around 8 p.m. Tuesday that crews from the Department of Natural Resources remained on scene and would be working through the night.
"DNR is in the woods," Bussey said in an interview. "We are in a support role at this point in time, and we will be here until tomorrow morning."
He noted no structures were threatened and the blaze remained "strictly in the woods."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2025.
The Canadian Press
