Nearly 140 forest fires remain active in Quebec, two-thirds of which are not under control. Threatened by fire, new communities were evacuated on Saturday. Elsewhere, residents have been allowed to return to their homes. Overview of the regions affected by the fires.
Val d’Or
The city of Val-d’Or declared a state of emergency on Saturday evening. Poor air quality and two nearby uncontrolled fires forced the evacuation of the Louvicourt, Lac Wyeth, Lac Guéguen, Lac Matchi-Manitou and Lac Villebon sectors.
For now, downtown Val-d’Or is not threatened by the fires.
“Due to the existing dangers, people in the areas mentioned must evacuate the premises as of Saturday, June 3, 2023 at 7 p.m., for an indefinite period,” the City announced in a press release.
In addition, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests has expanded the area covered by the ban on driving in the forest announced Friday to a large part of Quebec territory.
“This decision was taken because of the significant risks of lighting new fires and in order to facilitate the interventions of the [Société de protection des forêts contre le feu] “, said Saturday evening the Ministry in a press release.
Lebel-sur-Quevillon
Watched by fire, the municipality of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, 650 kilometers north of Montreal, was on the alert on Saturday.
At the start of the day, the authorities feared that the winds would push the blaze towards the community. The Nordic Kraft pulp mill was of particular concern. Sprinklers had been installed to prevent the flames from touching the substances stored there. Twenty forest firefighters and two air tankers fought against the fire.
For now, the worst seems to have been avoided. At the end of the day, the municipality expected a “calm” night. “Progress is slow. The fire is relatively stationary with lots of smoke,” she posted on Facebook.
“All the infrastructures present on the territory of the municipality of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, including the Nordic Kraft factory, are intact,” confirmed the City.
Located in Nord-du-Québec, the place has been almost deserted since the evacuation of its 2,000 citizens on Friday evening.
At a press conference on Saturday, the mayor of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Guy Lafrenière, thanked the population for their collaboration during the evacuations. A little earlier, he had told The Press about twenty residents refused to leave the municipality. “We are on these cases, we try to convince them to leave today, he said. It’s not much. The first 2,000 evacuees went really well yesterday. »
By email, Bell indicates that the forest fires that are raging in the Lebel-sur-Quévillon sector put the wired and cellular infrastructures at risk “which could lead to interruptions of certain telecommunications services in the communities of Miquelon and Waswanipi. , Chapais, Chibougamau, Mistissini, Ouje-Bougoumou, La Cache sector, Lac Opemiska sector and La Trêve sector. »
Iac Simon
It was the turn of Lac-Simon, in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, to be evacuated on Saturday. Aboriginal community leader Lucien Wabanonik issued an evacuation notice for all residents on Saturday morning due to the toxicity and heavy smoke in the air.
On Facebook, he asked the population to prepare the essentials needed for 48 hours in the event of an evacuation. “We will fight against this fire. We mobilize [des] heavy equipment for [créer] buffers behind the houses. We are doing everything we can to protect our homes,” he added.
Already, Friday evening, the hotels in Val-d’Or were full and priority had been given to seniors and sick people, said chef Lucien Wabanonik.
PHOTO FROM ANIK BOUDREAULT’S FACEBOOK PAGE
A plane flying over Lebel-sur-Quévillon
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Elsewhere, residents evacuated several days ago were allowed to return home. In Chapais, in Nord-du-Québec, the blaze is now contained.
The population applauded Mayor Isabelle Lessard when she announced Saturday morning at a press conference that residents could return home. About half of the residents of the municipality have been evacuated since Wednesday evening.
The night was favorable to Chapais, indicated Mme Lessard. Work to block the fires – a mechanized fire line – was nearing completion. However, vigilance and caution are always in order, underlined the small municipality. Thus, it remains forbidden to circulate in the forest and to make open fires.
Abitibi-Temiscamingue
The population of the MRCs of Vallée-de-l’Or and Abitibi received instructions on Saturday to confine themselves until Sunday morning, due to the smoke from the forest fires raging in the region.
Residents are encouraged to stay indoors with their pets. They are also asked to close the windows and limit air exchange with the outside, not to leave vulnerable people alone and to avoid intense physical activity.
In the rest of Canada
In total, no less than 40,000 people have been evacuated across the country due to the forest fires that continue to rage across Canada. “It’s critical, it’s serious,” thundered the Federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, at a press briefing on Saturday afternoon.
Nearly 30,000 square kilometers have burned so far, “10 times more than the average for each of the last 10 years”. “We have been dealing with forest fires of unprecedented magnitude for several weeks,” said the MP for Quebec.
Fortunately, the situation is improving in some provinces. Alberta announced that it was ending the state of emergency, declared in early May, on Saturday. However, the province will continue to use all the resources necessary to fight the blazes that are still burning, especially in the north of the territory. A total of 57 forest fires remain active, 16 of which are not under control.
In the east of the country, the major fire that has forced the evacuation of thousands of people over the past week near Halifax, Nova Scotia, is now 85% contained. The efforts to fight the blaze, combined with the return of the rain, would explain the good news.