A massive wildfire near Miramichi, N.B., continues to be listed as out of control by provincial officials.
The Oldfield Road Fire, which was first detected on Aug. 6, had grown to 1,358 hectares by Wednesday evening, a number which remained unchanged on Friday morning, according to Fire Watch, the province’s monitoring website.
The fire is one of 17 active fires throughout the province, including four that are said to be “out of control.”
In addition to the Oldfield Road Fire, the Pats Brook fire near Maple Glen, as well as the Green Brook and Smoker Brook fires near Newcastle Parish, were all deemed “out of control.”
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The other three fires are relatively small, listed at .1 hectares in size, and all began on Wednesday, according to Fire Watch.
There are six fires listed as “being contained,” two of which are said to be “under control,” while a further five are “being patrolled.”
Officials said Thursday they were investigating whether “multiple” fires had broken out overnight from lightning strikes.
Brian Proctor, meteorologist with Environment Canada, said New Brunswick was hit with 10,477 lightning strikes overnight into Thursday. The majority struck in the northern half of the province, including in the Miramichi area, he said.
“We often do see lightning activity, but it was quite a severe day,” Proctor said.
The largest out-of-control fire in the province was burning near Miramichi, and it has scorched nearly 14 square kilometres since Aug. 6.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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