the east of the country in flames

It’s like a dome of fire encircling the city of Halifax, NewEpod, Canada). Seen from the air, the whole region seems to be in flames. Immense fires, comparable to those that the Gironde experienced last summer. The difference is that there are 500,000 people here threatened by the advance of the flames. Some panic, there is something. In the Tantallon district, 150 houses have already burned down since the beginning of the week. With a simple garden hose, a man still wants to fight. “Stopped”shouts his neighbor. “Fire can leap over the trees at any time”he adds.

Two other fires are developing in the area

He too will give up, like many inhabitants, evacuated in time, but who have lost everything. “I saw children running around, and that we had to save at the last moment, before their house disappeared in flames. There is nothing left, it’s so sad”, testifies a resident. An official evacuation order concerns nearly 20,000 people. But its application is chaotic, complicated by the collapse of a bridge, whose structure did not resist the passage of the flames, and also by the number of roads cut. The authorities do not hide their concern. As a priority, Canadian firefighters protect residential areas, closer to the city of Halifax. A race against the advance of the flames, when two other fires develop in the same region.