‘It's very chaotic': N.B. chief describes wildfire conditions
Romeo Mazerolle has lived on the Oldfield Road just north of Miramichi for 57 years.
After Sunday's rain, he's feeling better about the wildfire situation in his community.
'Feeling a lot better. That rain we had recently really helped. And the cool weather,' he said.
The Oldfield Road Fire has caused a lot of tension over the last few weeks for Mazzerole and his neighbours.
'It's been intense. The wind could have changed at anytime,' said Mazerolle. 'Thanks to the good work of the firefighters they got it contained, and things are looking more positive.'
New Brunswick announced Sunday the Oldfield Road wildfire has been contained, but firefighters are still working on it and detours remain in place.
Oldfield Road Miramichi fire
A road closed sign sits on Oldfield Road, in the Miramichi area of New Brunswick, on Aug. 11, 2025. (CTV Atlantic / Derek Haggett)
Danny Goddard, a wildfire science officer and an operations section chief with the Department of Natural Resources, updated the media in Miramichi Tuesday morning.
Goodard said while it wasn't much, the precipitation received over the past 36 hours is helping in the fight against wildfires across the province.
'We need 60 plus millimetres of rain to really make a difference on our fires. We don't see that in the forecast, the upcoming forecast. We're preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,' said Goddard.
Goddard was on the ground day one of the Oldfield Road fire.
'We quickly realized that a direct attack would not be successful,' said Goddard.
A week ago, temperatures in parts of the province, including Miramichi, hovered around 40 C making a difficult situation even harder.
'It was definitely hot. Very high temperatures. We did have five to six people that did suffer some heat exhaustion and heat stroke. It's a time where we really need to slow down our operations and really take care of people's well-being,' said Goddard.
Goddard said he's never seen conditions this dry on the east coast before.
The dry conditions, heat and size of the fire in Miramichi made for an exhausting environment for the province's firefighters.
'They had a few tough days where they were really bouncing from fire to fire, trying to keep track just with containment issues. Contain them, move on to the next one,' said Goddard. 'To be on the ground it's very chaotic. At this point we're getting a hold of it, but when those few days of ignitions [happened] our firefighters were bouncing from fire to fire.'
Another challenge is the juggling act of keeping firefighters fed, hydrated and well-rested.
'Everybody is going on two plus weeks of full-on firefighting. It's definitely in our minds,' said Goddard.
Mazerolle hasn't seen it this dry in the Miramichi area since 1986 when a forest fire did force his family to evacuate.
'We felt more nervous at that time,' said Mazzerole. 'We got through that one also.'
Miramichi wildfire
A fire burns in the Miramichi-area of New Brunswick on Aug. 12, 2025. (CTV Atlantic / New Brunswick Government)
For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
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