Evacuation order issued in Novia Scotia, Canada, after new wildfire -CBC News

[May 31, 2023]  (Reuters) - Canadian emergency officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for parts of Bedford, Nova Scotia, after authorities noted a new wildfire and the potential for an ammonia leak in the area, CBC News reported on Tuesday. 

Smoke from the Tantallon wildfire rises over houses in nearby Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada, May 28, 2023. REUTERS/Eric Martyn

This comes after the declaration late Sunday of a state of local emergency for the eastern city of Halifax, also in Nova Scotia, after a wildfire caused evacuations and power outages, impacting about 18,000 people.

Crews were tackling the fire reported at a Farmers Dairy building off Hammonds Plains Road, Halifax Mayor Mike Savage told CBC.

A wide evacuation radius was ordered partly due to the risk of an ammonia leak from tanks on the site of the Farmers Dairy manufacturing plant, the report said, citing Halifax Fire Deputy Chief David Meldrum.

Forest fires also led to evacuations of about 400 homes in the province of New Brunswick over the weekend, officials said.

Earlier this month, the western province of Alberta declared a provincial state of emergency after tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes as unprecedented wildfires raged.

(Reporting by Yana Gaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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