Homes evacuated as firefighters battle forest fire outside Moncton

Firefighters are battling a raging forest fire about 40 kilometres west of Moncton. (CTV Atlantic)

COLPITTS SETTLEMENT, N.B. -- Homes were evacuated Tuesday in a rural area about 40 kilometres west of Moncton, New Brunswick, as water bombers and teams of firefighters battled a forest fire in the area.

Tyson Lewis, the assistant deputy chief of the Moncton Fire Department, says some people living on Middlesex Road, near Colpitts Settlement, were asked to leave their homes.

Lewis says the fire was burning over a 40-hectare area and firefighters were attempting to bring it under control.

He estimated there were 15 trucks from eight fire departments involved in fighting the blaze.

New Brunswick's Department of Natural Resources says water bombers and helicopters were also dispatched to assist in fighting the fire.

Charles Beaulieu, an official with the department, says conditions are extremely dry and that the entire province is under a no burn order.

He said his department was responding to five separate blazes around the province on Tuesday.

The department's website says there have been 259 man-made fires so far this year, including 60 over the past weekend.