No less than 40,000 people have been evacuated across the country due to the forest fires that continue to rage across several provinces. About 350 fires are active, including 140 in Quebec. “It’s critical, it’s serious,” thundered the Federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, at a press briefing on Saturday afternoon.
“We have been dealing with forest fires of an unprecedented scale for several weeks,” insisted the MP for Quebec.
Nearly 30,000 kilometers have burned so far, “ten times more than the average for each of the last ten years,” he said.
Nearly 14,000 people have been evacuated as of Friday evening in Quebec. A total of 140 wildfires are active in the province, of which “two-thirds are out of control”.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Emergency accommodation center at the Port-Cartier recreational and cultural complex
The situation is particularly critical on the North Shore, where the fires continue to hold the population in suspense.
“We invite all those who are in Sept-Îles and elsewhere in the region to be ready to evacuate quickly if the request is made,” said Jean-Yves Duclos.
Earlier Saturday, Ottawa announced the dispatch of Canadian army troops to Quebec to support firefighting efforts. Nearly 200 soldiers are on their way to the province, most to the North Shore.
According to Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, they will help the local forces with logistics, evacuation assistance, transport, site observation and the securing of the population and equipment. “Everything is going well in terms of the coordination of these forces,” he said.