New Brunswick’s wildfire situation has improved greatly over the past couple of weeks, according to a wildfire prevention officer.
While a burn ban was issued Friday afternoon for parts of southern and eastern New Brunswick, a provincewide burn ban that had been in place for a month was lifted earlier in the week.
Roger Collet with the Department of Natural Resources said there were a couple of reasons why.
“Because of the heavy dews that we have overnight, cooler temperatures, all that stuff helps keep the surface fuels a little cooler,” Collet said in an interview on Friday.
Rain last weekend also helped, but Collet noted that conditions remain dry deep into the ground.
As of Friday morning, there were four wildfires still burning — down from nearly 40 active fires a few weeks ago.
The largest active fire, dubbed Beaver Lake Stream, has been contained at just over 450 hectares in size.
“They’re still watching the perimeters pretty closely on that, especially the areas where it didn’t completely burn on the edges, so they have it contained,” said Collet.
Collet said they continue to monitor the situation and are prepared to put burn bans back in place if conditions change.
Burning notices are updated daily at 2 p.m. until the end of the wildfire season on Oct. 31.
