A man in his 20s was forced out into -20 degree weather when his house caught fire in New Brunswick early Wednesday morning.

The Canadian Red Cross says the man got out with his dogs and just the clothes he was wearing after the fire started at about 2 a.m.

The fire gutted the home in the rural community of Saint-Joseph-de-Madawaska, a few kilometres northeast of Edmundston.

The Red Cross is helping the man with clothes and personal-care items.

The homeowner says the fire appeared to start in a wall behind a wood stove, but investigators haven't yet determined the cause.