The official start to the provincial fire season is April 18 but some grass fires have already been reported across southern New Brunswick.
Wildfire prevention officer Roger Collet says the snow cover has melted and it doesn’t take long for a fire to spread.
“It’s pretty much open for the fields and maybe some open areas in the woods. But there is still snow in the woods. The further south you go, the less there’ll be but as you move further north there’s still a lot of snow in the northern parts of the province.”
Early spring can be a dangerous time for fires with dead leaves, grasses and debris left behind after the snow melts.
So far, Collet says Mother Nature has been cooperating this spring.
“We are getting some precipitation, pretty regularly, so that also affects how our spring fire season is looking. So if things continue that way we may not be in too bad shape.”
Collet adds the greening up of the landscape will lower the risk of fires but that’s not likely to happen until mid-to-late May across the south and a week or two later up north.
