Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources firefighters are heading to Moncton to help battle a large, out-of-control wildfire burning near the city.
In a release issued Monday night, Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton said New Brunswick provided assistance during Nova Scotia’s 2023 wildfires, and returning the favour is the right thing to do.
Rushton said DNR crews continue to respond to small fires across the province daily, but the current situation allows Nova Scotia to send help.
Three out-of-control wildfires were burning Tuesday in N.B., with residents north of Moncton told to prepare for evacuation.
Twenty firefighters will be deployed to the Irishtown fire for up to two weeks, north of Moncton. Rushton emphasized that if conditions change in Nova Scotia, the crew can be recalled.
This marks the third time this year that Nova Scotia firefighters have been sent to other provinces. Crews were deployed to Saskatchewan in both May and July.
Second worst season on record
After the historic fires in 2023, this year is officially the second-worst year on record for blazes in the country’s history.
The latest figures posted by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre suggest the fires have torn through 72,000 square kilometres, an area roughly the size of New Brunswick.
That surpasses the next worst season in 1989 and is about half the area burned during the record-setting 2023 season, according to a federal database of wildfire seasons dating back to 1972.