Fire crews tackling 2 Cape Breton fires

Firefighters in Nova Scotia are battlingtwo fires in Cape Breton Sunday evening, just hours after a large brush fire in Porters Lake was deemed under control.

Lands and Forestry firefighters and helicopters are responding to a fire near Big Pond inCape Breton, which is about 40 kilometressouthwest of Sydney. The East Bay Fire Department is also responding.

Crews are also responding to a nearby fire on Salmon River Road,east of Big Pond. Thefire is covering an area of about 225square feet, according to LisaJarrett, a spokesperson for the department.

A helicopteralso respondedto a fire at Big Indian Lake near St. Margaret's Bay on Sunday evening.

The fire was "suppressed" as of 7:45 p.m., according to a tweet by the department.

Earlier weekend fires under control, contained

Crews battled two other major blazes over the weekend.

A brush fire that started in Porters Lake on Saturday afternoon forced 1,000 people to leave their homes. The fire covered about 50 hectares of land.

As of 5:30 p.m. Sunday, the fire wasdeemed under control and is considered 60 per cent contained.The evacuation order was also lifted.

Firefighters are still in the area to watch for hotspots.

Another fire in Chester Grant that broke out on Friday covered about 27 hectares of land, burning two buildings to the ground.

As of Saturday afternoon, the fire was contained.

Provincial burn ban in place

A province-wide burn ban is currently in place.

Nova Scotia's Environment Minister Iain Rankin said brush fires are often caused by people, especially when the weather is hot and humid.

"There are no fires permitted at all right now at any regionso we want to make sure that Nova Scotians know that they are taking a risk," Rankin said. "It puts the safety of their neighbours at risk when they do violate the provincial burn ban."

There's no word on how any of the weekend fires were started.

He saidburn ban notices are updated on the province's websiteevery day at 2 p.m. and residents should check before they burn.