‘This is our city’: On the ground at the Irishtown wildfire

A firefighter provides a firsthand account of the battle against New Brunswick wildfires.

Firefighters from New Brunswick, Moncton and surrounding communities were able to get the Irishtown wildfire under control Wednesday, but for those on the front lines, it wasn’t an easy task.

Capt. Jamie Rooney of the Moncton Fire Department spent much of Tuesday in the heavily wooded area at the end of MacFarlane Lane and described the conditions to CTV News Atlantic.

“We were working what we kind of call the black, which is the area of the fire that’s already burnt. Our task was to get water on hot spots and really dig down because of the heat from this fire was very deep rooted in this soil. You can go down six-to-eight inches and still finding roots burning,” said Rooney.

Firefighters from Moncton worked in two shifts, one from around 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. and the other from 2 p.m. until nightfall.

“It’s challenging work. It’s very hot. We’re in the middle of a heat wave. It’s very hot anyway, but you’re also working beside burnt ground,” he said. “It’s rough terrain. It’s land that’s been cut over. There’s tree stumps, there’s roots, there’s hills, there’s ditches, there’s dozer cuts. We’re dragging long hose lines around trees and roots and that sort of thing. So yeah, it’s hard work.”

Moncton Fire Department Chief Conrad Landry had high praise for the firefighters from his department, Riverview, Dieppe and the Department of Natural Resources.

“I can’t say enough with our firefighters and the support from the community and other fire departments that came and assisted in this,” said Landry. “We have about 20-to-24 firefighters every day from our own department. They’re fighting the heat, the tough terrain and the conditions.”

Landry said some firefighters wanted to stay after their shift had ended.

“They want to stay, they want to do more. It’s almost overwhelming. Very proud of everybody that has been participating,” said Landry.

On Monday, the province notified residents living close to the fire to be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice, but the call never came.

Gloria Mazerolle lives near where the fire took place and was afraid she would be evacuated.

“If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here. We would have lost everything. Everything,” said Mazerolle.

While the fire is contained, Landry said crews will still be on scene for a few more days extinguishing hot spots and making sure the fire doesn’t spark up again.

Rooney said fighting forest fires is a large operation with a lot of moving parts.

“We were just part of it. But we do take pride in it,” said Rooney. “This is our area and this is our city and these are our people.”

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