New BrunswickMeredith Smith put a call out on Facebook for help evacuate her 11 horses and seven pigs when a fire broke out at a neighbour’s property. Her community responded faster than she ever expected.‘It was like trucks and trailers were falling out of the sky,’ says Meredith SmithVictoria Walton · CBC News · Posted: Aug 18, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoMeredith Smith, seen here with her mini-horse named Squirt, had to evacuate her 11 horses and various other animals after a fire began spreading into the woods near their home. (Meredith Smith)A house fire that spread into the woods outside Sussex, N.B., on Friday afternoon turned into something out of a movie for Meredith Smith.Smith has 11 horses, seven pigs, four dogs, three cats and some guinea pigs and rabbits on her hobby farm in Jordan Mountain.She had just returned home from her day job and was getting ready to tend to the animals in the barn when she got word of the fire.”When I opened my patio door to look out the window, all I could see was smoke,” she said.Within minutes, an RCMP officer arrived to tell Smith to evacuate. But she wouldn’t go without her animals.”I didn’t take time to really process how bad things were,” she said. “He said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to get everything.'”The officer called for backup, but there weren’t enough trailers to move all the animals at once. Smith did the only thing she could think of — posted on Facebook asking for help.Spreading the wordSmith started putting halters and leads on her horses. Meanwhile, her post spread rapidly on social media.”My phone completely blew up. Of course I had no time to answer. It was the last thing on my mind,” Smith said.Strangers with horse trailers of their own began making their way to Jordan Mountain. Within just 20 minutes of her initial post, help began to arrive.”It was mind-blowing how many trucks and trailers showed up in such a short amount of time,” she said. “It was … like trucks and trailers were falling out of the sky.”Footage captured by a doorbell camera shows Smith’s horses unloading after being evacuated quickly on Friday. (Meredith Smith)With help from RCMP and other “horse people” who arrived on site, Smith managed to load all of her animals onto trailers and into vehicles, despite the chaos.”The foals had never been on trailers, and as we were beginning to load horses, all of the planes started flying over,” she said.”Basically, just things you see in a movie that you don’t ever expect to be in the middle of.”After Smith’s animals were safely loaded, trailers were directed to a neighbour’s dairy farm. Smith says she doesn’t know exactly how many people showed up with trucks and trailers in the end, but estimates at least 100.”I had a few people say a hundred to 150, which I have absolutely no words for,” she said. “We just know there was a lot. Everybody was lined up ready to help.”Thankful beyond wordsSmith says she’s tried to consider what she might do with her animals in an emergency situation. But when the evacuation happened, she didn’t have time to think.”Everything happened just so fast,” she said. “I don’t honestly know how you really prepare for that until you’re in that, and thankfully somebody was looking over us.”The fire, seen on the provincial fire map as the Newtown Fire, grew to an eventual 15 hectares and is now categorized as “being patrolled,” which means it’s contained, has no flames and only occasional smoke, and has no risk of growing again.Smith’s horses are boarding temporarily at Perkins Quarter Horses in Havelock, N.B. ( Meredith Smith)”All of us are thanking our lucky stars that it didn’t get worse, and that the weather, the wind subsided, everything kind of turned around,” Smith said.The initial structure that caught fire — a home with a garage — was lost.”A house can be replaced, a barn can be replaced, but human and animal lives cannot be replaced,” Smith said. “Nobody lost a life yesterday and that’s the most important part.”Smith was permitted home later that same night, but says she didn’t get much sleep. The horses spent Friday and Saturday nights at temporary lodging, including Perkins Quarter Horses in Havelock.Smith says her horses are spending at least a few days away from home until she knows the fire is fully out. (Meredith Smith)”Facebook and that amazing RCMP officer that showed up at my house were honestly, had things gotten way worse and we would have lost everything, they’re what saved my animals.”Due to the ongoing wildfires in the province, the New Brunswick Equestrian Association is asking its members if they’d help with trailers or empty stables when needed. According to a Facebook post from Aug. 10, so far 24 people had volunteered. The Maritime Quarter Horse Association is also sharing resources.Some horse lovers are also taking it upon themselves to help. Mactaquac’s Jen MacPherson has started a Facebook Messenger group that now has over 100 members willing to help others.MacPherson says she was inspired to start connecting people after the wildfires in Hammonds Plains, N.S., in 2023.”It’s just wonderful to have that community involvement and you know that you can count on them,” she said. “It takes a little bit of stress off your shoulders to know that people are going to be there.”Smith says she’s still trying to process everything that happened, but mostly, she’s just thankful. “Had there not been horse people there that could load horses for me, I don’t know what I would have done,” she said.ABOUT THE AUTHORVictoria Walton is a reporter at CBC New Brunswick, and previously worked with CBC P.E.I. She is originally from Nova Scotia, and has a bachelor of journalism from the University of King’s College. You can reach her at victoria.walton@cbc.ca.
N.B. horse owner overwhelmed by response to call for help during fire evacuation
