N.S. premier calls for urgent, proactive firefighting help from Ottawa

Premier Tim Houston repeated his calls for urgent firefighting help Thursday, asking Ottawa to “be proactive” with aid as multiple wildfires continue to burn out of control.

Premier Tim Houston repeated his calls for urgent firefighting help Thursday, asking Ottawa to “be proactive” with aid as multiple wildfires continue to burn out of control.

The federal government said Thursday morning the Canadian Armed Forces is preparing to provide firefighting support to Nova Scotia, and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said that military help would start arriving "hopefully" by the end of the day.

“I would urge urgency on their part,” Houston said of the federal government following a cabinet meeting Thursday.

“Getting these fires under control is the most urgent need.”

About 200 houses have been reported as destroyed by the wildfires and more than 21,000 Nova Scotians have been evacuated from their homes.

The premier shared Wednesday an extensive list of requests for support, that include military firefighting crew, a variety of equipment, helicopters to drop water, and 50 per cent cost-sharing for modular housing units for those who have lost their homes to the fire.

“The discussions on many of these things have been ongoing for a number of days… I would urge them to act on those, and be proactive even on what hasn’t been requested,” Houston said.The premier said he learned a great deal about the process of requesting federal aid after post-tropical storm Fiona hit the region, and because of that experience he wrote in his formal request: “where this is an urgent and evolving situation, I would appreciate being made aware right away if any of these requests are required to go through administratively burdensome channels. I am hopeful that we can act first together to address the urgent needs of Nova Scotians.”