N.B. exits another fire season without major incident but with the amount of low fuel in the woods there is always a risk.
Amidst raging wildfires in Canada’s west, New Brunswick’s fire prevention officer said the province is in good shape. “We’re in really good shape so far this year,” said Roger Collet, N.B. Fire Prevention Officer.
“We’ve had quite a bit of rain, unfortunately every single weekend,” Collet said on why the province got through this fire season better than years previous.
“Early to mid April we start getting the majority of our fires and it runs into about the long weekend of May,” said Collet. “We’re pretty much through that spring period where there’s dry leaves and dead grass and no green up yet.”
Collet said 70 per cent of the province’s wildfires happen during this period–almost all started by people–that we are now exiting as the humidity increases. He said obviously there is always a risk but midsummer humidity provides a break before the risk increases again in August and September.
“New Brunswick’s a small province, but there’s a lot of different terrain,” said Collet. “ Saint John and right along the Bay of Fundy, there’s enough humidity there we don’t see a lot of fires.”
Collet said the St. Stephen area and the Southwest corner of the province tend to have more springtime fires than others.
“We are always concerned about forest fires but after the last couple of years with major windstorms we had, the risk is up somewhat,” said Kevin Theriault, Saint Andrews Fire Chief. “The available low fuel in the woods is greater than it has been for a while and could add to any fire starts that there may be.”
“Even with the amount of rain we have received, the top layer of debris in the woods can dry out quickly with sun and wind,” said Theriault.
The trees uprooted and knocked down by windstorms create perfect fuel for forest fires. As they sit dead on the forest floor they dry out, making it easier for fires to start and spread at a rapid pace.
Theriault said people should check the NB Forest Fire Watch website to check if it is safe to burn.
The website, updated everyday at 2 p.m., provides each region with the appropriate fire risk for that 24 hour period. There are three risk levels; red (no burning allowed), yellow (burning only allowed from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.), and green (safe to burn).
“Even if burning is open, you still want to be very careful and vigilant because you can have a little bit of a microclimate that we’re not aware of,” said Collet.
Theriault also suggests homeowners visit FireSmart NB’s webpage for tips on what they can do around their property to keep it safe from fires.
Their page includes training and resources for homeowners and communities on how to protect against fires and how to create wildfire resiliency plans.
“They’re mostly human caused,” said Collet. “Maybe… it gets away from them because of dead standing grass or dead leaves and they just don’t realize how quickly that can get away from them.”
Collet also said they are often caused by vehicles like ATV’s, such as the one in May of 2023.
“It could be possibly a muffler on an ATV,” said Collet. “Sometimes you get a little bit of a dirt sort of like twigs and grass that gets jammed in there and heats it up to an ember and then that might fall off.”
Because of this he said people should be aware of where they are parking, even their cars. Taking a look around to make sure there is no dry grass could be the difference.
Collet said he and his team are vigilant throughout the fire season to stop them.
“In the event life-saving information needs to be relayed, the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization coordinates the broadcast of an Alert Ready message,” said Geoffrey Downey, spokesperson for the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization (NBEMO).
He said the local authorities managing the situation make a request to NBEMO for the alert to be sent out. Once the appropriate information is provided including what actions the public must take the alert will be issued via the Alert Ready system.
“In the cases where there isn’t an imminent threat to life, a number of means can be used, such as government social media channels, media interviews and visiting residences. NBEMO will work to support local authorities to coordinate this as well.”
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