Venting propane tanks made sounds like an airplane jet engine. The smell of the smoke shifted from burning wood to nauseous, melting plastic. “You go from 80 to 90 per cent visibility and decent air, to not being able to see anything, your air quality is horrendous and you’re trying to follow the hose back to the truck because they’re evacuating the area.”
Meanwhile, the situation was changing at a “terrifying” pace, he added. It tore through the Upper Tantallon area - a bedroom community on the northwestern outskirts of the city - leaping between tree tops and rushing around lakes.Ī bone-dry April and May left the woods behind the homes like a tinder keg, as high heat combined with low humidity to further raise the fire risk.Īfter arriving at the scene in Westwood, Zawidzki said the engine truck had a malfunction, and firefighters had to set up a pump to draw water from a local swimming pool. In his 13 years of volunteering at the station in Hammonds Plains, Zawidzki - a civilian employee of the Defence Department - had seen brush fires, but he said the wildfire that began Sunday afternoon was a “completely different beast.” Within hours, his residence on Carmel Crescent was gone, along with those of many of his neighbours, including two full-time firefighters he counts as friends.
“The fire was raging at such an incredible pace that I just wanted to save somebody else’s house while I could.”Īs the winds shifted, Zawidzki took a minute to text his wife and post on a Facebook group in the Highland Park subdivision where the flames were heading, before continuing to lead his team in the community of Westwood. “It was important to stay with my crew and work on the assignments we were given,” the 50-year-old said. HALIFAX - As volunteer firefighter Mark Zawidzki battled eye-stinging smoke and flying embers to save homes from the Halifax wildfire, he realized its flames were headed to a neighbouring subdivision - and his own residence.
0 kommentar(er)
