Halifax wildfire: not criminal, RCMP say | Forest fires 2023

RCMP are investigating the cause of the wildfire that destroyed 200 buildings in May and June.

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A bicycle abandoned child in the Westwood Hills area of ​​Upper Tantallon, Nova Scotia, on May 29, 2023.

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There is not enough evidence to conclude that the wildfire that destroyed more than 200 buildings in May and June in the greater Halifax area was criminal in origin, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Nova Scotia.

On May 28, a fire started in Upper Tantallon, a community part of the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Flames spread to the surrounding communities of Hammonds Plains and Pockwock. The fire burned approximately 950 hectares and caused the evacuation of more than 16,000 people.

About 200 structures , including 151 houses, were destroyed.

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A car burned by the forest fire on May 29 in Upper Tantallon.

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A resident of one of the communities affected by the fire made a freedom of information request and shared the documents received with CBC/Radio-Canada.

< p class="StyledBodyHtmlParagraph-sc-48221190-4 hnvfyV">In a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) document, identified as a final report and dated September 11, 2023, we read that there is no does not have enough evidence to conclude that the May 28 fire was the result of an act of a criminal nature, or was caused by criminal negligence.

The wildfire started as a simple brush fire in a residential area called Westwood Hills. A video shared on Snapchat, described as the moment the fire started, was examined by the RCMP, but police were unable to determine where the footage was filmed.

Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether this was the cause of the main Westwood wildfire, reads another document from the RCMP dated June 1, 2023.

In an email to Radio-Canada on Friday, the RCMP confirmed the contents of the documents.

Regarding our aspect of the investigation, based on the information provided, there was insufficient evidence to indicate that the fire was of criminal origin, wrote Constable Dominic Laflamme, the provincial information officer for the RCMP in Nova Scotia.

We closed our file in September and communicated this information to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Renewable Energy, he added.

The provincial department is still investigating this forest fire.

With information from Julie Sicot

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