Premier Susan Holt speaks to forest ranger staff before a news conference announcing new investments in wildfire preparedness on Wednesday, April 8, 2026.
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt speaks with reporters before the First Ministers Meeting in Ottawa, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Premier Susan Holt speaks to forest ranger staff before a news conference announcing new investments in wildfire preparedness on Wednesday, April 8, 2026.
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New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt speaks to reporters after a news conference on wildfire preparedness on April 8, 2026.
EJR
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt speaks with reporters before the First Ministers Meeting in Ottawa, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's government kicked off wildfire season earlier than usual on Wednesday as it announced millions of dollars in spending to improve its preparedness ahead of what鈥檚 expected to be another dry summer.聽
The province will spend $6.7 million to increase the number of year-round firefighting forest rangers to 169, up from 95. It鈥檚 also allocated $3 million to secure availability for four Fire Boss specialized water-scooping aircraft.
Premier Susan Holt said the government learned from a 鈥渟cary and stressful time鈥 last year after hundreds of fires burned more than 30 square kilometres of land to give the province its worst wildfire season in decades, according to government figures.聽
As Holt announced the start to wildfire season, which typically begins in the third week of April, she said she wanted to calm public anxiety ahead of this summer.
鈥淲e committed to doing more to protect New Brunswickers, to protect our forest lands, our infrastructure, and our population's health and well-being. Being prepared is our top priority," she said.聽
鈥淭hat's why we are committing funds to support our personnel, their equipment and their training so that we are more prepared than ever for this next season.鈥
Holt announced a $6.4-million capital investment to build up an equipment warehouse and fire hose processing facility in Fredericton, relocate a fire retardant processing facility, and upgrade and add more reload bases that supply fire suppression chemicals and water.
She also said two dozen community wildfire resiliency plans of a total 50 are already completed ahead of this summer, funded by a $2.6-million provincial-federal partnership announced last December. The premier highlighted $484,000 invested in the North Shore, Holistic Way and Maui tribal councils for fire readiness. 聽
She added that the province continues to roll out wildfire fighting equipment kits and training for volunteer firefighting departments through agreements with 16 communities.
Parts of southern, central and northern New Brunswick show 鈥渆xtreme drought鈥 zones on Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada鈥檚 drought monitor. The rest of the province is considered to be under severe drought.聽
鈥淲e have had one of the driest winters in decades with 10 consecutive months of below-normal precipitation,鈥 said the province鈥檚 natural resources minister, John Herron.聽
鈥淐ompounding the seriousness of our current predicament, Environment and Climate Change Canada is projecting that the summer months in New Brunswick will be among the hottest years on record.鈥
Holt said converting 74 seasonal forest ranger positions into permanent all-year roles will allow for consistency and ongoing skills development. 鈥淭hese are people who spend their winter months increasing their readiness, preparing warehouses and equipment, doing robust training, deployment opportunities in future years and to other places,鈥 she said.聽
Avery Fitzpatrick, one of the new year-round rangers, first gained on-the-ground experience fighting fires across the province last summer.聽
鈥淚 thought that it was going to be a lot longer of a wait to get a full-time position so I was super excited to get the news,鈥 said Fitzpatrick, 20.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 just excited to be here year-round because I feel like it鈥檚 going to give me a lot of opportunity to grow and learn more things faster.鈥
This report by 国产诱惑福利 was first published April 8, 2026.