‘They should have a medal’: N.B. community praises firefighters for wildfire response

Fire crews are pictured on Route 915 and Midway Road near Riverside-Albert, N.B. (Derek Haggett/CTV News Atlantic)

Residents of Albert County, N.B., are praising the quick response from the province and local firefighters one day after a wildfire ignited in the hills of the community.

The fire broke out in a deep-wooded area on Sunday afternoon around the community of New Horton, close to Riverside-Albert.

Riverside-Albert Assistant Deputy Fire Chief Peter Brzezicki said soon after they received reports of heavy smoke in the remote area, they reached out to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for assistance.

Shortly afterwards, water bombers were sent out on the sunny, windy day. Brzezicki says he was amazed by how quickly they arrived.

“This is what actually saved the day here because the fire was moving very quickly and was moving towards, maybe not a subdivision, but there’s a residential area. There are some houses, people are living in those houses, there are farms. And in fact, the fire was going in that direction,” said Brzezicki.

He added close to 10 hectares of forest burned in just a few hours.

“This indicates how fast that fire was going,” said Brzezicki.

He said the DNR brought strong support to the area to work on the hotspots on that rainy Monday.

Late in the afternoon that day, the province’s fire watch dashboard indicated the Midway, N.B., fire was 100 per cent contained with 9.3 hectares of land burned.

Crooked Creek Convenience owner Gabriel Piqugard was surprised the bombers got to the area so quickly.

“Within an hour of having them show up and actually doing work is pretty impressive,” said Piqugard.

On May 19 in Lincoln, N.B., the provincial government displayed four new Fire Boss aircraft it recently purchased to combat wildfires.

The province said the amphibious planes can pick up water from lakes and rivers.

Donald Wilbur lives in New Horton, N.B., and watched the planes fill up with water from a lake not far from his house.

“They did an excellent job. They were special. They should have a medal because they did a wonderful job,” said Wilbur. “It was kind of eventful watching them work on the lake.”

Chris Barrowman of Riverside-Albert used to be a volunteer firefighter when he lived in B.C.

“I’ve done forest fires as well, and living in B.C. for 26 years, I’ve seen the forest service jump into action like that before. That’s what they’re there for,” said Barrowman.

In a social media post, Fundy Albert Mayor Jim Campbell said Sunday was a scary and difficult day for people in the community.

Campbell thanked the DNR saying the swift response from the water bombers and the aerial support teams made a critical difference on the ground.

Campbell also thanked the firefighters from Riverview as well as the volunteer firefighters from the surrounding communities of Hillsborough and Alma.

“You stepped up in a tremendous way. The pride we have in you cannot be overstated. You are the backbone of this community and yesterday you proved it once again,” said Campbell.

Brzezicki praised their relationship with the DNR.

“Without their help, their quick response, we wouldn’t be in the shape that we are today,” he said. “But also, our volunteers. People that are just volunteering their time for the fire department. We had almost everybody on that scene very, very quickly.”

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