It is going to be a long few weeks of drought in Nova Scotia.

Premier Tim Houston says there is not enough rain coming to end the dry spell, and the province is a tinder box.

“So far we’ve been dodging bullets,” Houston told reporters during a news conference at 3 p.m.

There have been 17 fires in the last 24 hours, and firefighters were the only thing preventing a catastrophe.

A wildfire broke out at Susies Lake Tuesday afternoon because of an open fire violating the burn ban.

It is still out of control at about 15 hectares with firefighters are still on the scene.

There are also two fires burning near Lake Paul. One at 0.9 hectares is under control and one at 1.9 hectares is out of control, according to an update from the Department of Natural Resources at about 4:45 p.m.

Eight planes from New Brunswick dropped fire retardant on the fire earlier in the afternoon, and two DNR helicopters are still dropping water on the scene.

Small window to control fire

Houston says that normally firefighters have 20 to 25 minutes to get a forest fire under control, but under these dry conditions, that is more like 5 minutes.

He urged everyone to follow the ban on entering woods and burning fires.

Since the province created the woods ban last week, they have issued 12 fines related to illegal burns and illegally entering the forest.

He says no one wants to find themselves in the woods and realize they are trapped by a forest fire.

Province recommends fire precautions forest industry

Houston also encouraged industrial and agricultural operations to be extra careful of starting fires.

Commercial operations will need a permit to travel on crown land, and where possible, permits will require work to be done between 8 p.m. and 10 a.m.

Firefighting equipment also must be on-hand, and a two-hour fire watch is required after any work is finished.