'We don't have a home to return to': Nova Scotians displaced by wildfires struggle to find rentals

When Brianne Carlson found out a rapidly growing forest fire was moving toward her neighbourhood, she grabbed what she could and packed an overnight bag.

By the time she opened her front door to leave with her husband and two-year-old son, she was met with a terrifying scene. 

"There was hot embers falling down on our house," Carlson said in an interview Thursday. "Our front yard was on fire and very quickly our whole driveway became engulfed in smoke. We just couldn't even see the drive to get out."

At that moment, Carlson knew she might never see her home standing again.

"Deep down we knew that [the fire] was going to roll right through the house, unless there was going to be some act of God, some miracle."

The wildfire that forced Carlson from her home started May 28 in the area of Upper Tantallon, just 25 kilometres outside Halifax. That led to evacuation orders for about 16,400 residents