Quebec experienced a “historic” forest fire season in 2023, declared Tuesday the general director of the Society for the Protection of Forests Against Fire (SOPFEU), Éric Rousseau.
At a press conference in Quebec, he took stock of a “record-breaking” season during which 4.5 million hectares of forest burned, including 1.1 million in habitable zones. The previous record, set in 2005, was 386,671 hectares burned in the habitable zone.
At the end of May, the operational capacity of SOPFEU — which can fight 30 fires simultaneously — was already exceeded. Then, on 1er June brought what Mr. Rousseau calls the “great overflow”.
More than 150 fires were active, of which around 100 were declared “out of control”.
In total, there were 711 fires — almost all caused by lightning — and nearly 27,000 people in 27 municipalities had to be evacuated.
Fortunately, SOPFEU was able to count on the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as firefighters from other provinces, the United States, France, Spain, Portugal and South Korea.
“SOPFEU has achieved a real feat […] with the safeguarding of human lives, communities and strategic infrastructure in Quebec,” said Éric Rousseau.
16 million additional dollars
To help SOPFEU face this new reality, the Quebec government announced Tuesday that it was releasing an additional $16 million.
Thirteen million will make it possible to acquire additional equipment, different types of vehicles, mobile housing units and telecommunications equipment.
The remaining 3 million will be used for prevention and training activities in the province.
These amounts are in addition to the approximately $200 million announced last week during the economic update to plant 40 million trees over the next eight years.
“The 2023 season will have left a scar on the Quebec forest. There will be before the summer of 2023 and after the summer of 2023,” declared Tuesday the Minister of Natural Resources and Forests, Maïté Blanchette Vézina.
For his part, Mr. Rousseau reacted by describing the investment as a “breath of fresh air”. He stressed that his organization had been “in discussions with the government for a long time”.
“In terms of prevention, I think it will do really good. Do we have other needs in other places? Yes. We are in discussion. »
Hard hit staff
According to him, it will also eventually be necessary to replace air tankers. SOPFEU is “lacking” resources when it has to fight fires in several areas at the same time, he added.
Tuesday, the spokesperson for Québec solidaire in terms of natural resources and forests, Alejandra Zaga Mendez, recalled the importance of having a “global vision”.
“SOPFEU has been underfunded and neglected for years. What we see today is simply a catch-up, but it is not enough,” she lamented in a press release.
Furthermore, SOPFEU revealed that around twenty of its employees were particularly “affected” by the “exceptional” season they experienced and had to “take a break”.
“We are going through very intense things and it is difficult for the staff,” explained SOPFEU human resources director Dominic Pagé at a press conference.
Last week, the mayor of Chapais, Isabelle Lessard, announced her resignation due to post-traumatic stress syndrome linked to the forest fires.