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Forest fires destroy two homes in New Brunswick

May 8, 2013, Salisbury, N.B. – Two forest fires continued to burn Wednesday 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. No injuries were reported.

Natural Resources spokesman Steve Benteau said in an email that neither fire was considered contained as of 8:30 a.m.

Charles Beaulieu, a fire prevention officer with the provincial government, said crews were able to get the main part of the blaze near Salisbury under control overnight.

"It looks pretty good this morning," he said in an interview from Fredericton. "We had favourable temperatures last night, no wind, cooler temperatures and a lot of manpower on there."

But Beaulieu cautioned that winds were expected to pick up again Wednesday, which could complicate matters. He also said several spots had flared up outside the main area of the fire, making the blaze hard to contain.

"Until we get helicopters in place and put waters on those spot fires, we can't call it contained," he said.

Firefighters were also battling a smaller fire that had burned about 70 hectares in Kedgwick, about 300 kilometres north of Fredericton.

"They had crews work on it all through the night," said Beaulieu. "They're quite confident they're going to make some good progress."

A reception centre was set up Tuesday in the village in case the fire forced people to flee their homes, but there were no evacuations.

Benteau said there have been 273 fires, all considered to be man-made, reported in the province since forest fire season began on April 15.