Announced as reinforcements in the morning, the firefighters of the Montreal Fire Safety Service (SIM) will not finally travel for the forest fires in Sept-Îles due to the lifting of evacuation orders.
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“City of Montreal firefighters will lend a hand to their colleagues in Sept-Îles to fight the forest fires,” Mayor Valérie Plante mentioned on Twitter, Tuesday noon.
A few hours later, the media relations of the City of Montreal however indicated that the Montreal firefighters will not go to the municipality of the North Shore.
“Given the current situation and the lifting of evacuation notices for residents of Sept-Îles, the fire departments of Laval, Longueuil and Montreal received confirmation this afternoon from the Sept-Îles fire department that the “Assistance from the firefighters will not be required”, mentioned at the end of the day Gonzalo Nunez, public relations officer at the City.
Sept-Îles has been in the grip of major forest fires for a week.
Started on May 30, fires 215, 378 and 172 were still considered out of control at the end of the afternoon, according to the interactive map of the Society for the Protection of Forests against Fire (SOPFEU).
“We are all ready to offer our assistance if the situation changes and our assistance for an urban intervention is required,” said Mr. Nunez.
- Listen to the interview with Frédéric Verreault, Executive Director for Les Chantiers de Chibougamau Ltée on QUB radio: