A Nova Scotia man has been charged with allegedly igniting a forest fire last May, which went on to become one of the largest wildfires in the history of the province.
Known as the Barrington Lake fire, the fire started southwest of Shelburne, N.S., on May 26, 2023 and wasn’t fully brought under control until June 13.
It was completely extinguished over a month after it began, with the helping hand of heavy rainfall.
The fire burned around 23,000 hectares in the process, evacuated over 6,000 people and destroyed 60 homes and cottages and an additional 150 other structures.
Dalton Clark Stewart, 22, from Villagedale, N.S. was charged on Wednesday with three offences under the Forests Act, according to a statement released by the province’s Natural Resources Department.
Stewart is accused of “lighting a fire on private property without permission of the owner, failing to take reasonable efforts to prevent the spread of a fire, and leaving a fire unattended.”
His first court appearance is scheduled for March 7 at Shelburne provincial court, according to the National Post.
The Barrington Lake fire was the largest in Nova Scotia’s recorded history since the government first began keeping records in the early 1920’s.
The fire broke out only two days before another wildfire in the Upper Tantallon area, close to many suburban neighbourhoods located northwest of Halifax.
That fire scorched 969 hectares, evacuated 16,000 people and destroyed 151 homes in the area. It was brought under control on June 4 and fully extinguished by July 26. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Strong winds aided as a tragic catalyst for the massive spread of both fires.
The summer of 2023 also marked the driest conditions in Nova Scotia since the Second World War, according to records from the Canadian Forest Service.
During the wildfire season, politicians and the media blamed the fires on climate change, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Energy Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment Steven Guilbeault, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, and Senator Chuck Schumer, each blaming Canadian fires on climate change.
CTV and the Washington Post both published articles attributing fires to climate change despite their cause not being known at the time.
Earlier this week, a Quebec man pleaded guilty to starting 14 fires during Canada’s wildfire season this past summer.
38-year-old Brian Paré pleaded guilty to 13 counts of arson and one count of arson with disregard for human life.
