Halifax fire destroys eight homes Rain helped to bring fire, ripping through the forested suburbs of Halifax, under control
Ferguson's Cove, N.S.  The brush fire came up fast and fierce, leaving shaken residents only moments to grab what they could and go.
“I took my husband's ashes and I took my children's pictures and I took a family picture,” Marlene Myles said.
The Ryans, who lived on one of two streets in the Ferguson's Cove area 15 minutes from downtown Halifax that bore the brunt of the fire damage, saved their children's pet rats, and father Brett Ryan raced back into the house to retrieve his wedding ring from the kitchen before escaping by truck through the approaching blaze.
“Houses can be replaced,” he said Friday in nearby Spryfield, where displaced residents were being assisted. “We literally got out with our lives. Like if I'd been three minutes later, I wouldn't have got up that road.”
The smell of smoke hung heavy Friday as hundreds of residents of suburban Halifax returned to homes they had fled a day earlier. Rain Friday had helped bring the fire under control, but it will probably be a few more days before the hardest-hit area is open to the public. And families who had lived there, eight of whom no longer have homes, had to brace themselves before viewing what remained of their properties.
“A 6,000-square-foot home reduced to two feet of rubble,” said Mr. Ryan, describing the sight that greeted him. The Ryans have insurance but mourn all the cherished possessions they left behind: several musical instruments, including a 19th-century grand piano, a collection of photo albums and hard drives containing business information.
No one was injured in the blaze except for one police officer who was treated for smoke inhalation. Two cats and one dog are presumed dead after being left in evacuated homes that burned.
The worst-affected streets were part of upscale developments built in a forested area, the homes spaced widely along bucolic cul-de-sacs. Friday, the area was a stark landscape of trees scorched black, the ground coated with wet soot. But not all the homes that were damaged were hit by the brush fires, and police launched a separate investigation of arson at one home.
“There is significant damage to the interior of the home from the fire,” said Halifax Regional Police Staff-Sergeant Don Fox. Investigators believe that fire was lit during the evacuation process Thursday evening.
Damage in the area was not uniform. Driven by gusting winds and following an erratic course, the blaze levelled some homes while sparing others.
At one property, a hockey net stood intact in the driveway next to a smouldering foundation. At another spot, the charred remnants of a barbecue was one of the few recognizable items left in the ruins of a house, while less than 50 metres away a number of patio chairs sat undisturbed next to a pond.
The speed of the fire amazed people. Paul Levy was working Thursday on the peninsula that forms the core of Halifax when he spotted a thick plume of smoke coming from the area of Purcell's Cove, where his wife and daughter were at home.
“He called me and my mom around 3 and asked if there was a fire,” 14-year-old Michelle Levy remembered yesterday. “My mom looked out the window and was like, ‘Oh my God, Purcells Cove's on fire.' ” Mr. Levy jumped on his bicycle and raced home. He normally rides at a sedate pace; the bike typically carries a travel mug of coffee in the water-bottle cage, and the route takes him 20 to 30 minutes. He covered it Thursday in 12 minutes but was stopped by a police barricade.
“I was scared to death, I couldn't tell if my family was all right,” he said. “They said if I went through I'd be arrested … I probably said some fairly nasty things.”
He reached his wife on the phone and she was able to keep him calm. After a nerve-racking wait, his family emerged safely from the smoky haze. They spent the night at a community centre in Spryfield.
“I was scared to sleep, I thought I was going to have nightmares,” Michelle said Friday, clutching a stuffed dog that was a gift from her uncle. She had also brought with her a stuffed animal given by an grandmother who died four years ago.
“My wife's mom was buried where the fire went through and we don't know if that graveyard was damaged,” Mr. Levy said. “It's been really hard on [my daughter]. She and her grandmother were like this,” he added, crossing his fingers.
reported that a blaze which started Thursday outside of , Nova Scotia in Canada was brought under control by Friday afternoon with the help of a rainstorm Friday morning.

"If we didn't have the rain, this fire may not be under control," Lloyd Currie, a spokesman for the Halifax Regional Fire Service said. "We're happy that we're having this rain. We just need more of it."

 in 2003 produced downed trees and brush to fuel this year's fire which spread through the area at 36 metres (118 feet) per minute. On Thursday, the fire was settling down, but when high winds fanned the blaze, the fire surged out of control, creating flames  high which leapt from treetop to treetop.

Between 800 to 1,200 hectares (2,000 to 3,000 acres) of forest were destroyed, as were eight homes. Another ten homes were also damaged as high winds fanned the flames through the district. Police are investigating a possible case of arson during the brushfire when residents were evacuating.

Over 100 firefighters and five helicopters were out fighting the fire.

People were awakened from their sleep at three a.m. local time to report into the Red Cross evacuation centre. Residents reported driving through flames in their home driveways to escape the brush fire. 

On Wednesday, firefighters thought a fire in the same district was under control. Currie feels that the Thursday wildfire was a separate fire distinct from the one started on Wednesday.

“We warned the people as fast as we could,” said Currie.  Altogether about 1,100 persons were displaced because of the fire and about 500 homes were abandoned.

, Mayor of Halifax toured the devastation by air. “It's a shock. Where homes used to be they are no longer.  It's surreal for me,” he said.

On Friday no flames were visible, but hot spots remained.

Halifax Regional Municipality, with a population of 282,924 in 2006, is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia.