N.S., N.B. issued more than $500K worth of burn ban fines this summer

More than $500,000 worth of burn ban fines have been issued in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia this summer.

In little more than a month, Nova Scotia conservation officers and police issued 22 charges for violating the burn ban, totaling more than half a million dollars in fines.

The province’s Department of Natural Resources provided the numbers, stating each were for $25,000, between July 30 and Sept. 11.

Over a four-month period last year, 41 fines were handed out for burn ban violations – of those 13 were for $25,000, totaling $325,000.

It’s evidence of the province’s crackdown on violators during a very challenging wildfire season for Nova Scotia, and the entire Atlantic region. Homes and structures have been lost in Newfoundland and Labrador and in Nova Scotia, and some firefighters have had to be treated for heat stroke.

In New Brunswick, where 13 times more area burned this summer than in 2024, conservation officers issued 106 warnings and wrote 97 tickets under the Forest Fire Act between Jan. 1 and Sept. 11.

“The infractions ranged from having a fire on a non-burn day, leaving a fire unattended, and infractions given to industrial operations for not having a permit,” stated a spokesperson for the Department of Justice and Public Safety.

In 2024, between April 1 and July 19, there were 164 violations. Of those, 23 people were fined, amounting to $5,263.50.

Fines in New Brunswick typically range from $172.50 to $604.50, but there is also a provision if someone is found responsible for causing a fire. They would be responsible for the cost of putting the fire out for a maximum fine of $250,000.