NOVA SCOTIA, Canada — For weeks, wildfires have raged across parts of Canada, including in nearby Nova Scotia. According to a news release from Nova Scotian officials, a wildfire in Shelburne County currently stretches 23,525 hectares or more than 90 square miles.
"They've had us doing a lot of work on the perimeter where they haven't been able to get people or crews or vehicles in to," Nick Bolduc said.
Bolduc is a Maine Forest Ranger, working primarily in the Downeast Maine area. This week, he's been in Shelburne County assisting fire prevention efforts.
"We've been doing a lot of mapping. Over the last few days we've found a small handful of hotspots still smoldering, or even with flames," Bolduc said.
Bolduc is responding alongside other firefighters and forest rangers from the United States, part of the Northeastern Forest Fire Prevention Compact. Bolduc says this is his first time responding to a forest fire outside of the country, but says his experience responding to fires in Downeast Maine has helped prepare him.
"It's very similar to what we do in Maine for many smaller fires, except this is a much larger fire than what I've seen," Bolduc said. "It's thick brush, smaller trees, it's marshy, it's boggy."
Bolduc arrived in Nova Scotia on Saturday and has been on the front lines battling the blaze since Sunday. He says he's expecting to remain in Nova Scotia through next week.
According to the White House, since May, there have been more than 600 U.S. firefighters, support personnel, and firefighting assets deployed to work alongside Canadian firefighters at keep the fire under control.