CHCO-TV Brings Local Voice to Provincial Wildfire Response

CHCO-TV anchors Vicki Hogarth and Nathalie Sturgeon were live at the news desk Friday evening with updates on the wildfire situation in New Brunswick, as new provincial restrictions came into effect on Crown land and harvesting operations.

The province has kept a full burn ban in place and closed all Crown lands, but limited exceptions have been granted for industries facing critical shortages. Nathalie Sturgeon joined a provincial news conference in Fredericton, where the province's Natural Resources Minister John Herron explained that overnight trucking of roadside wood has been permitted under strict fire equipment and monitoring requirements. All other forestry activities, including silviculture and roadwork, remain suspended.

During the live television broadcast, Hogarth and Sturgeon walked viewers through the province’s layered response. They reported that blueberry growers with Crown land leases will be allowed to harvest and access private fields through Crown land roads, though other blueberry production remains halted. For the peat industry, only processing of already-harvested stockpiles is permitted due to fire risk, while new extraction is prohibited.

Sturgeon pressed officials on enforcement and timelines at the Fredericton briefing.

The pair also relayed health warnings issued by the province, reminding residents that vulnerable groups — including children, pregnant women, seniors, and people with chronic respiratory or cardiac conditions — should avoid outdoor exposure when smoke levels rise.

Their coverage underscored the importance of local journalism during emergencies. From the CHCO-TV desk in St. Andrews to the provincial news conference in Fredericton, Hogarth and Sturgeon connected Southwest New Brunswick viewers directly to the decisions shaping fire management across the province.