Saint Andrews-area fire now 35% contained

There is good news as crews continue to battle the Stein Lake fire in the Saint Andrews area.

In a Facebook post on Friday morning, Mayor Brad Henderson said the fire perimeter did not expand overnight.

Henderson said crews are focusing their attention on hotspots and bulldozing a fire line around the perimeter.

“This is extremely hard manual work, and I can’t express our gratitude enough,” the mayor said in his post.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said the 540-hectare fire was about 35 per cent contained as of Friday morning.

Spokesperson Nick Brown said while the fire is still considered out of control, it is not growing in size.

It is hoped that some wet weather in the forecast over the coming days will help crews contain the blaze.

The reception centre that had been in place at the W.C. O’Neill Arena Complex in Saint Andrews closed for good at noon Friday.

New Brunswick EMO also announced Friday that the speed limits along Route 127 in Bocabec and Chamcook had returned to normal after being reduced earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, figures from the province show this year’s forest fire season is already trending well above average.

DNR said there had been 174 fires reported throughout the province as of Friday morning.

The 10-year average for this time of year is 157 fires, according to data on the department’s website.

More than 877 hectares of land have burned throughout New Brunswick — more than three times higher than the provincial average.

However, if you exclude the Stein Lake fire from the total, the total area burned this year is only about 18 per cent above the average of 286 hectares.