BLACKVILLE, N.B. -- For children, watching water bombers scoop up a load of water is exciting; for adults, it’s a sign of hope.
"They said a while ago it’s only seven minutes from our house, so the wife is in there wondering whether to pack or not," said Lester Vickers, who is the caretaker for a half a dozen camps along the South Caines River Road.
When he checked on them Tuesday morning, they were fine. By the afternoon, he wasn’t so sure.
"They’ll put the water bombers on them, that’s what he said this morning," Vickers said. "He was going to put the water bombers on them, but I don’t know if he got them in time or not."
Three other camps, not in his care, were destroyed by the forest fire.
Eight water bombers -- two of them from Quebec -- have been battling forest fires in New Brunswick. One in Barnaby River is considered under control, but that’s not the case in Blackville.
Conditions can change quickly. If the wind shifts, roads can be made inaccessible and people can be forced to leave their homes.
Zoel Daigle found himself in that kind of situation Monday night.
"We went down and we weren’t too concerned about getting out because going in was easy," Daigle
Said. "But then the wind shifted towards the vehicle and then that’s when we decided to get out of there.
Both sides of the road were on fire, it was it was almost like you were driving through hell."
The size of the fire is estimated at about 350 hectares. It's hard work for crews on the ground and Monika Saulnier wants to help.
"I am driving back to see if the firefighters and the people helping out need any water and supplies back there," Saulnier said.
Temperatures in the 30’s are expected for the next couple days, which will dry out the forest and firefighters even more –- so they’ll take all the water they can get.
Despite a province-wide burn ban, the Department of Natural Resources and local fire departments have been called to 70 fires in the last week.
They are asking the public to follow the rules and not start any type of fire.
