N.S. Pledges Money for Small Businesses Impacted by Wildfires
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government will give a one-time grant to small businesses impacted by evacuations related to the ongoing wildfires.
Premier Tim Houston said today the government will give $2,500 to businesses located in mandatory evacuation zones for wildfires in the Halifax Regional Municipality and Shelburne County.
At a press briefing Friday afternoon, Houston said businesses in the evacuation zones “have some immediate needs” and that the grants will help “offset the costs of unanticipated business closures.”
Houston said more information about the grants, and how to apply, will be available soon. Just in the HRM, the Halifax Chamber of Commerce says 200 of its members have been ofrced to close becuase of the wildfires.
The province estimates its business grant program will cost taxpayers about $1.5 million. It comes in addition to $500 grants the province said it will give to every household forced to evacuate because of wildfires. The Red Cross, which is helping administer those grants, says they have already been given to more than 3,000 Nova Scotian households.
To be eligible for the small business-specific grants, businesses must have stopped operating because they are within the mandatory evacuation zones related to the wildfires. The program will open on June 5.
As of Friday morning, there were 15 active wildfires in Nova Scotia.
The biggest was in Barrington Lake, Shelburne County, where 215 square kilometres were ablaze. That fire was burning out of control, with 80 firefighters, five helicopters, and one water bomber fighting it. Another 114-Hectare fire was burning on Lake Road, in the Municipality of the District of Shelburne. That fire was also out of control, with 23 Department of Natural Resources firefighters on scene.
Meanwhile, the wildfire in Westwood Hills in the Halifax Regional Municipality covered 837 hectares and was about 50 per cent contained. More than 140 firefighters were battling that blaze, along with five helicopters and a water bomber. The province says the fire “still [posed] a number of areas of concern, keeping the status out of control.|”
The province says about 150 homes in the area had been destroyed. Across the province, about 17,000 Nova Scotian had been forced to evacuate their homes.