New Brunswick releases report on one of the province’s biggest historic fires

New Brunswick has provided more details on the Miramichi wildfire earlier this summer.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has released an incident report for “one of the most complex wildfire incidents in New Brunswick’s recent history.”

The fire on Oldfield Road in Miramichi started on Aug. 6 and grew to more than 1,400 hectares.

“This fire was going okay until that lightning storm hit and then it was very hard to stop,” said Robert Amos, and officer with DNR.

The Miramichi Fire Department responded after rangers spotted smoke. It led them to a very active wildfire, which they reported to the Provincial Fire Centre.

“We don’t know for sure.. how it started. We’re pretty sure it was human caused,” said Roger Collet, another DNR officer.

The department extinguished several spot fires that spread from the main fire but when the wind changed, they were ordered to stand down for safety. The fire spread to 22.5 hectares by the end of the first day.

On day two, the fire more than doubled to 47.5 hectares. In response, the Provincial Fire Centre deployed a Provincial Incident Management Team to coordinate efforts between community and support resources.

Firefighters were forced to relocate to a different staging area and merge operations when the wind shifted on day three. They were supported by Quebec water bombers.

“Despite extreme conditions, shifting winds and rapid-fire growth, the combined efforts of provincial staff, national and international firefighting resources, partner agencies and the unwavering support of the Miramichi community demonstrated the strength, resilience and unity of New Brunswick’s wildfire response,” said the report.

The fires is now classified as contained.

“Just be prepared. we were kind of Lull Where we didn’t get a whole lot of lot of fires,” said Amos. “But now I think this will be just keep us more alert and prepared every year.”

Community and interagency support:

• the City of Miramichi provided staging sites, heavy equipment, meals and logistics space.
• municipal firefighters and police managed public safety during water bomber operations
• Emergency Measure Organization coordinated evacuation plans with IMT
• Department of Transportation and Infrastructure provided vehicles and safety signs
• fire crews were housed at schools, hotels, resorts and sporting camps

Mutual Aid and firefighting support

• forest rangers and wildland firefighters deployed from every district in the province
• the new Wabanaki Wildland firefighting crew joined operations
• crews from Maine, Ontario and Quebec supported operations
• fire departments from around the province protected structures

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.