Judy Johnson left her property on Hwy. 127 in Saint Andrews, N.B. on the afternoon of May 28 knowing a wildfire was burning somewhere nearby.
Now, there is a 360-degree fire line surrounding her property.
Just 200 metres from her home, forest rangers and firefighters are battling hundreds of hot spots in a fire being described as “manageable but out of control.”
“We thought maybe we should get something together and go into town, so we did,” she said.
Her husband did some tree trimming around the back of the property recently, and he wet everything down really well before they left, she said.
“I had no idea how bad the situation was until a friend came and do a little recognizance and … all she could say was, ‘Oh my God, your house is still there. My God, everything else is burned around it. Even the flowers are still there,’” Johnson said.
The purple flowers lay in contrast with the black earth and smouldering trees behind.
At the end of their drive, her husband’s motorcycle was not so lucky. The aluminum on it melted, the body just a shell of ash.
Just a short distance away, Richard Taylor owns 230 acres of land on Chickahominy Mountain, the site of much of the fire. He said at least 30 acres of it is burned.
He was formerly a forest ranger, and once he was allowed back onto his property, he hiked up the mountain to survey the damage.
“Came down, and went first with an ax and a shovel to try and put them out, but I realized quickly that it would expose them to the air so I came down and got five-gallon pails and carried water up the mountain,” Taylor said.
Global News drove into the area, which is steep, narrow and rugged terrain.
Taylor said there were spots he poured 15 to 20 gallons of water onto, only to rediscover the hot spots had been reignited.
During his interview, helicopters were actively circling overhead.
Residents remained on edge Wednesday, with many narrowly escaping the wrath of a 540-hectare fire.
Only one home was lost in the fire, but the fire chief, Kevin Theriault, said on Tuesday that the firefight will be long and difficult as crews work to maintain the fire line and quell hot spots.
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