The summer of 2025 was beyond draining and some days I still feel like I’m trying to catch up on my lost sleep.
Wearing multiple hats, it makes it difficult to provide coverage on a regular basis, with this page specifically being just a hobby, there’s no doubt that this summer impacted everyone just a little differently.
Over the summer I took thousands and thousands of photos, spent hours upon hours doing different research and meeting and talking with a plethora of different residents impacted by the fires over the summer.
For many, it was a first, with hundreds of people evacuated, smoke filling neighbourhoods, homes destroyed by fire, it was a scary and very uncertain time for many, who ultimately call the valley home.
So many volunteer firefighters took time away from work, lost jobs to fight fires and dedicated their time specifically to protecting our province.
Each summer, it’s normal for volunteer firefighters respond to a number of woods fires, grass fires and brush fires in our communities. In most cases the volunteers arrive prior to provincial resources, ultimately extinguishing and preventing fires before they threaten homes.
There are some scenarios in which fires are located in very difficult locations, requiring air assets, off road vehicles, more planning and effort to contain and fight.
As a result of a number of fires last year, this was the case, remote fires during extreme dry and drought conditions, something many were already worried about.
These fires also brought in hundreds and dozens of out of province resources, it was a summer in the Annapolis Valley we have never experienced before.
Many other agencies, private contractors and much more were dedicated to supporting fire efforts.
Since last summer, I’ve stepped back significantly from the way I operate my page, how I run stories and do coverage.
Attached are just a few photos from scene coverage over the summer of 2025.
Adrian J.
