Two forest fires burn in New Brunswick, Canada

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PETITCODIAC, New Brunswick, May 8 (UPI) -- Two forest fires in New Brunswick, Canada, have destroyed at least three homes and forced the evacuation of numerous others, officials said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire burning near Petitcodiac was 25 percent contained, the provincial Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Anne Bull said.

The fire, in an area known as the Glades, west of Moncton, has burned approximately 1,235 acres, she said. Three homes were destroyed by that fire and evacuation orders were issued to an unreported number of residents, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Tuesday.

Bull said the cause of the fire has not been determined.

Meanwhile, a fire in Kedgwick is mostly under control, having burned approximately 123 acres, the DNR said.

An evacuation order in the area has been lifted, the CBC said.

Charles Beaulieu, an officer with the DNR, said wildfires in the province are on the rise due to dry conditions. The department's Wildfire Prevention Unit has issued no permits to burn grass this year, though "some people aren't getting the message," he said.

"People just don't understand fire behavior and that's why we put a lot of science behind our burning permit system," he said. "They don't understand days when it's acceptable to burn and when it's safe to burn. That's why we tell them the days they can't burn and the days they can."