N.S. wildfire considered extinguished almost 10 months since it began

Smoke from the Long Lake wildfires complex billows into the air in the West Dalhousie, N.S., area. (Government of Nova Scotia)

A wildfire that began in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis County last summer is now considered extinguished.

The Long Lake wildfire in West Dalhousie started burning out of control on Aug. 13, 2025.

It forced dozens of people to evacuate their properties and destroyed 20 homes and damaged several other buildings.

The final group of evacuees was allowed to return home on Sept. 19.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) declared the wildfire as being under control during its last regular update on Sept. 25.

The fire was at an estimated 8,468 hectares, or 84 square kilometres, in size.

“It is not expected to grow, but it is still not extinguished,” DNR said at the time.

The department added crews typically continue working until a wildfire is extinguished, but noted winter conditions could arrive before being declared out.

DNR said the fire wouldn’t be a threat during the winter and monitoring would continue until firefighting could resume in spring.

The fire was determined to be fully extinguished following recent aerial hot spot scanning.

“Thank you to DNR crews, volunteer fire departments, and all partners who helped manage this wildfire,” the department said in post on social media Tuesday.

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