New Brunswick·UpdatedNatural Resources Minister John Herron said more boots on the ground and water bombers have made for a less dire situation compared to last week.Wildfire situation not as dire as last week, according to Natural Resources Minister John HerronSavannah Awde · CBC News · Posted: Aug 21, 2025 9:18 AM EDT | Last Updated: 29 minutes agoA helicopter with a water reservoir is shown leaving the Hugh John Flemming Forestry Centre in Fredericton on a recent trip to a fire. (Aniekan Etuhube/CBC)Despite several wildfires still burning out of control, New Brunswick’s minister leading the fire response said Thursday the province is “almost out of the woods.”Natural Resources Minister John Herron said this week the province has access to more firefighters and water bombers, making for a less dire situation compared to last week.”We were fighting some very large fires … and we knew that we had to do everything possible to mitigate, like bumping that number up, because we just wouldn’t have the capacity to get this done,” Herron said in an interview.He noted the Oldfield Road fire, contained after burning 1,403 hectares over 10 days, is the largest New Brunswick has seen since 1986.Another fire in Irishtown burned through 45 hectares before it was brought under control, but was considered a particular risk with 900 structures and 1,500 people nearby.Shift – NBForestry Work ResumesAccess to the woods and Crown land is still restricted given the dry conditions and the wildfire threat. But earlier this week the province announced that some work could begin, under strict conditions. Natural Resource Minister John Herron will join us to explain.”I won’t say we’ve got it done and we’re mission accomplished, because we’re going to have conversations about fires probably for the next month, for sure,” Herron said.”But it is heading in a very, very good direction right now.”According to an update posted by the province around 6:15 p.m. AT Thursday, there were 19 active fires in New Brunswick. Four fires in the northern half of the province were out of control as of Thursday night — Chief’s, Beaver Lake Stream, Mount Goold, and Rocky Brook.The provincial dashboard says the two largest out-of-control fires stayed the same size on Wednesday and Thursday.Natural Resources Minister John Herron said the province’s wildfire situation is improving. (CBC)The Beaver Lake Stream fire was listed at 238 hectares and the Chief’s fire at 218 hectares, as of Thursday night.Ruisseau à Eloi was listed as out of control on Thursday afternoon but was put out by the evening.About 140 firefighters were deployed throughout the province, as of Thursday night.The province is still closed to burning and Crown land remains closed, but some exceptions are now in place for certain businesses.Herron said some forestry operators, quarries and blueberry harvesters have been granted permission to operate provincewide under certain safety conditions.The Oldfield Road fire, about 15 kilometres north of Miramichi, was contained as of Thursday and remains about 1,400 hectares in size. (Government of New Brunswick)”We wanted to get New Brunswickers back to work. Some folks were without a paycheque,” he said. “Some of those mills were down to two, three, four and five days worth of wood supply.”The situation is also trending in the right direction for people to be allowed in the woods again recreationally, Herron added.”We’re almost out of the woods, but to get back into the woods we haven’t dotted the Is or crossed any Ts just yet, but temperatures are still cool, there’s more humidity, we might get a little bit of rain Monday and Tuesday,” he said.Herron noted some restrictions on industry may continue even after the restrictions for individuals are lifted.ABOUT THE AUTHORSavannah Awde is a reporter with CBC New Brunswick. You can contact her with story ideas at savannah.awde@cbc.ca.
N.B. ‘almost out of the woods’ with wildfires, minister says
