Headlines News
All forest fires in N.B. this year have been caused by people

May 8, 2013, Fredericton – A spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources says all 274 forest fires so far this year in New Brunswick have been caused by people.

Charles Beaulieu says there is a ban on burning in the province but the public just isn't getting the message.

Two forest fires continue to burn this afternoon in northern and southern New Brunswick, including one that destroyed at least a couple of homes.

Charred metal, a bicycle and a children's playset were all that remained where two mobile homes once stood on Middlesex Road near Salisbury, about 25 kilometres west of Moncton.

Officials said the fire – the largest of the two – had consumed about 150 hectares in the area.

The fine for breaking the burning ban is 172-dollars and 50-cents, while the minimum fine for burning grass without a permit is 500-dollars.

More than 575 hectares of forest has burned so far this year, nearly twice as much as during the same period last year.