SHEDIAC, N.B. – A province-wide burn ban has been impacting vacationers and campers over the weekend.
High temperatures and winds had the New Brunswick Forest Fire Watch team restricting campfires, so this week’s damp weather is a relief.
Dick Lane has been camping at KOK campground in Cassie Cape for 15 years and he says he’s never seen this many fire bans.
“It’s got to be very difficult for tourism because campers here have to do without,” he said.
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Charles Beaulieu, with New Brunswick’s Department of Natural Resources, says they’re not trying to rain on anyone’s camping parade by putting fire restrictions in place.
“I don’t think there really is any more than what we’ve had in the past,” he said.
Beaulieu says there has been plenty of rainfall. But between those rainfall events we’ve seen higher temperatures, wind and low humidity which are quickly drying up fine combustible fuels on the forest floors.
“If we go for a period of time that we don’t have rain then the larger fuels start to dry up,” he said.
Private campgrounds in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia don’t technically have to comply with burning restrictions.
“People in campgrounds are allowed to have fires on a no burn day as long as they meet certain criteria to do so and as long as they have the owner’s approval,” he said.
The criteria for the fire pits are outlined on the DNR website.
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