N.S. community hard hit by wildfire plants symbolic trees

Two trees were planted at a park in a suburb outside Halifax Wednesday as a symbol of the community's resilience after last year's wildfires.

About 80 residents and firefighters gathered at Timberlane Terrace Park in Highland Park subdivision for the ceremony, one year after the fire ripped through 151 homes in Upper Tantallon and Hammonds Plains.

"We are all in this together," Tricia Murray-d'Eon, who organized the event and lost her own home, bellowed to the crowd from a large rock. "We have been through hell this year.

"I'm hoping that this occasion can mark a solid return to normal within our subdivision as we try to regroup and rebuild."

Volunteer firefighters from Station 50 in Hammonds Plains, N.S., spread dirt around the newly planted tree at Timberlane Trail Park. (Aly Thomson/CBC)

A large section of the community park was decimated by the wildfire, and the charred trees were recently cleared as part of a project that saw softwood trees brought to a mill and turned into lumber.

People clapped and cheered under sunny skies as uniformed firefighters shovelled dirt onto the first tree, a Princeton gold maple donated by the volunteers at Station 50 in Hammonds Plains.

The second tree — a red maple — was donated by Kara McCurdy, the wildfire mitigation program manager for Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency.

McCurdy recently received an award from FireSmart British Columbia honouring women who have made significant contributions in wildfire resilience.

A placard was placed in front of the red maple tree. (Aly Thomson/CBC)

As part of the award, she was given $1,000 for a community project, which she donated to Highland Park, one of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods.

She noted the Highland Park Ratepayers Association is taking steps to implement practices in the subdivision, like vegetation management, to help reduce the wildfire risk.

"A lot of the communities here along Hammonds Plains, Upper Tantallon are really bouncing back with rebuilding and … looking at what they can do in their community to make the forest more resilient and to be able to coexist with fire," said McCurdy. "Because this is going to be the future — we're going to have a lot more fires coming down the road."

Kara McCurdy helps shovels dirt onto the red maple tree she donated to Highland Park. (Gareth Hampshire/CBC)

Gregg White lost his home in the fire, which broke out in the nearby Westwood Hills subdivision on May 28, 2023. He said Wednesday's event was an opportunity for residents to reconnect after being displaced while their homes are being rebuilt.

"It feels like a bookend to what was started a year ago," said White, standing next to the newly planted gold maple.

"We've got probably 70 homes in this subdivision alone that were a total loss and it just destroyed our community and ravaged our lives and turned them upside down for what feels like an eternity."

People who attended the event were asked to raise their hands if they were directly impacted by the wildfire. (Aly Thomson/CBC)

White got back into his new home in January, something he attributes to his "Newfie determination." But the road to get there wasn't easy.

"It basically consumed our lives," he said. "The phone didn't stop for the first three months."

A "Nova Scotia Strong" flag will now proudly fly at White residence, one of dozens of flags that are being distributed to people who lost their homes in Highland Park.

Tricia Murray-d'Eon, left, Gregg White, middle, and Kara McCurdy hold up the Nova Scotia Strong flag that will be distributed to residents of Highland Park who lost their homes and are rebuilding in the community. (Gareth Hampshire/CBC)

Timberlane Terrace Park is particularly important for those who live nearby because the ratepayers' association spent years raising money to develop the kilometre-long trail that opened in 2020, only for a large swath of trees to be lost.

The two trees are only the first of many more to be planted there in the coming months.

Hardwood and softwood trees will soon go in the ground this fall as part of the Clean Foundation's Thriving Forests program.

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