It was a long and stressful night for several residents of Chibougamau who were forced to evacuate the town in a panic on Tuesday evening due to the forest fires.
Louise Lizotte had drawn features Wednesday morning in front of her screen. Like several other victims, she had spent the night on the road to visit family members in Roberval.
When his niece informed him in the evening that he had to evacuate, Ms. Lizotte first had a moment of doubt. “But I believed her, because she is not the type to panic over nothing,” she explains to the Duty by videoconference. A few minutes later, the mayor confirmed the order to evacuate.
“My first instinct was to try to join my son and my sister who don’t have a vehicle to leave the city. That was my priority. The rest, it does not matter, we are insured. It was humans, animals and then baggage. »
Her cat, her dog and that of her sister made the trip too. “The mayor said to leave our animals, but I didn’t want to leave the animals behind. Her boyfriend was following in another vehicle with one of their employees who was also without a car.
It was a rush at the gas station, where she had to wait more than 30 minutes to fill up. Because between Chibougamau and La Doré, a small village in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean near Saint-Félicien, there is no gas station. Impossible, therefore, to hit the road without a full tank. “It took two hours just to get out of town! she exclaims.
The journey to La Doré usually takes just over two hours. But last night, Ms. Lizotte took eight hours to cover the 211 kilometers that separate the two cities.
“It was not progressing. It was so long, we wanted to change tack, but we had no choice. The reverse lane was reserved for emergency vehicles. »
“A very long night”
Mme Lizotte is not the only one to have spent the night on the road. “It’s been a very long night!” “says Janna Couturier, 21 years old. With her spouse, their two cats and their dog – their “babies”, she specifies – they set off for Quebec City, where they arrived in the wee hours of the morning.
“It was very stressful, we weren’t prepared for that, we hadn’t had any information before that to tell us to prepare to evacuate. And there, at 8 p.m., we knew we had to go there, now. »
The day before, the sky was orange, a burning smell hung in the air and a rain of ashes had left traces all over the city. But on Tuesday, everything seemed normal. In the evening, the sky was gray. And then all of a sudden there was panic. “I have never seen my village so active. It was crazy. Everyone was outside packing their floats, it really felt like the apocalypse. »
Sylvain Marcil was preparing to go to work when his family advised him that he had to evacuate. “At first, I said: ‘well no, nothing is happening, the neighbor is mowing!’ But he quickly realized the obvious. He is one of the “lucky ones” who already had a full tank. Thanks to this strategic advantage, he was one of the first to be able to leave the city with his wife, their two children and their dog. “It took us just four hours to cover the 200 kilometers to La Doré,” he rejoices.
Mr. Marcil describes himself as someone who is “not stressed by nature”. But her daughter Rebecca, 16, was more so. “Leaving everything behind, you don’t know what will happen with the city,” she says. It still scared me, but my parents were able to reassure me. »
She is sorry to miss her prom, scheduled for Saturday, and hopes that it will be put back when the situation allows it. In the meantime, she didn’t take any chances… She brought her graduation dress in her luggage to be sure that it wouldn’t burn!